Method for producing monatin using an l-amino acid aminotransferase

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a methodology for improving a yield of 2R,4R-Monatin. Specifically, the present invention provides a method for producing 2S,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, comprising contacting 4R-IHOG with an L-amino acid aminotransferase in the presence of an L-amino acid to form the 2S,4R-Monatin; a method for producing 2R,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, comprising isomerizing the 2S,4R-Monatin to form the 2R,4R-Monatin; and the like. These production methods may further comprise condensing indole-3-pyruvate and pyruvate to form the 4R-IHOG, and deaminating a tryptophan to form the indole-3-pyruvate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. provisional Patent Application No. 61/477,402, filed on Apr. 20, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for producing Monatin using an L-amino acid aminotransferase, and the like.

BACKGROUND ART

Monatin [4-(indole-3-yl-methyl)-4-hydroxy-glutamic acid] is a compound that is one of amino acids contained in roots of Schlerochitom ilicifolius that is a shrub in South Africa and is particularly expected as a low calorie sweetener because of having sweetness one thousand and several hundreds times sweeter than sucrose (see Patent Document 1). The Monatin has asymmetric carbon atoms at positions 2 and 4, and a naturally occurring stereoisomer of Monatin is a 2S,4S-isomer. Naturally non-occurring three stereoisomers have been synthesized by organic chemistry processes. All of these stereoisomers are excellent in sweetness, and expected to be used as the sweeteners.

Several methods have been reported as the methods for producing the Monatin (e.g., see Patent Document 2). However, all of the reported methods require a step of multiple stages, and thus, it is required to improve a synthetic yield of the Monatin.

Specifically, for the method for producing the Monatin, the following method for producing 2R,4R-Monatin by synthesizing indole-3-pyruvate (hereinafter referred to as “IPA” as needed) from L-tryptophan (L-Trp), synthesizing 4R form of 4-(indole-3-yl-methyl)-4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutaric acid (hereinafter referred to as “4R-IHOG” as needed) from the resulting IPA and pyruvate, and subsequently subjecting the obtained 4R-IHOG to an oximation reaction, a reduction reaction and an epimerization-crystallization method has been known (conventional method (1)) (see Patent Document 2).

However, an aldolase step (second step) is an equilibrium reaction, and thus, a satisfactory yield is not always obtained in this reaction.

In order to improve the yield of the 2R,4R-Monatin, the method for producing the 2R,4R-Monatin by a one-pot enzymatic reaction has been invented (conventional method (2)) (see Patent Documents 3 to 6).

-   Patent Document 1: JP Sho-64-25757-A -   Patent Document 2: International Publication WO2003/059865 -   Patent Document 3: International Publication WO2007/133184 -   Patent Document 4: International Publication WO2005/042756 -   Patent Document 5: US Patent Application Publication No.     2006/0252135 Specification -   Patent Document 6: US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/020434     Specification

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing Monatin with a good yield.

Means for Solving Problem

As a result of an extensive study, the present inventors have found that the above problem can be solved by using an L-amino acid aminotransferase, and completed the present invention. No L-amino acid aminotransferase that acts upon 4R-IHOG has been known so far.

Accordingly, the present invention is as follows.

[1] A method for producing 2S,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, comprising contacting 4R-IHOG with an L-amino acid aminotransferase in the presence of an L-amino acid to form the 2S,4R-Monatin. [2] The production method of [1], further comprising contacting a keto acid with a decarboxylase to degrade the keto acid, wherein the keto acid is formed from the L-amino acid due to action of the L-amino acid aminotransferase. [3] The production method of [1], wherein the L-amino acid is L-aspartate. [4] The production method of [3], further comprising contacting oxaloacetate with an oxaloacetate decarboxylase to irreversibly form pyruvate, wherein the oxaloacetate is formed from the L-aspartate by action of the L-amino acid aminotransferase. [5] The production method of [1], wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase is derived from a microorganism belonging to genus Arthrobacter, genus Bacillus, genus Candida, genus Corynebacterium, genus Lodderomyces, genus Micrococcus, genus Microbacterium, genus Nocardia, genus Pseudomonas, genus Rhizobium, genus Stenotrophomonas, genus Dietzia, genus Ochrobactrum, genus Brevundimonas, genus Burkholderia, genus Carnimonas, genus Yarrowia, genus Clostridium, genus Deinococcus, genus Eubacterium, genus Lactobacillus, genus Methanothermobacter, genus Phormidium, genus Pyrococcus, genus Rhodococcus, genus Saccharomyces, genus Saccharophagus, genus Sinorhizobium, genus Thermoanaerobacter, genus Thermotoga or genus Thermus. [6] The production method of [5], wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase is derived from a microorganism belonging to Arthrobacter sp., Bacillus altitudinis, Bacillus cellulosilyticus, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus sp., Candida norvegensis, Candida inconspicua, Corynebacterium ammoniagenes, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Lodderomyces elongisporus, Micrococcus luteus, Microbacterium sp., Nocardia globerula, Pseudomonas chlororaphis, Pseudomonas citronocllolis, Pseudomonas fragi, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas synxantha, Pseudomonas taetrolens, Pseudomonas sp., Rhizobium radiobacter, Rhizobium sp., Stenotrophomonas sp., Dietzia marls, Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense, Brevundimonas diminuta, Burkholderia sp., Carnimonas sp., Yarrowia lypolytica, Clostridium cellulolyticum, Deinococcus geothermalis, Eubacterium rectale, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus, Phormidium lapideum, Pyrococcus horikoshii, Rhodococcus erythropolis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharophagus degradans, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, Thermotoga maritima, or Thermus thermophilus. [7] The production method of [1], wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase consists of an amino acid sequence showing 90% or more identity to the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:73, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:83, SEQ ID NO:85, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:89, SEQ ID NO:91, SEQ ID NO:93, SEQ ID NO:95, SEQ ID NO:97, SEQ ID NO:99, SEQ ID NO:101, SEQ ID NO:103, SEQ ID NO:105, SEQ ID NO:107, SEQ ID NO:109, or SEQ ID NO:111. [8] The production method of [7], wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase comprises one or more mutations of amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of the amino acid residues at position 39, position 109, position 128, position 150, position 258, position 287, position 288, position 289, position 303, position 358 and position 431 in the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2. [9] The production method of [8], wherein the one or more mutations of amino acid residues are selected from the group consisting of: i) substitution of the lysine at position 39 with an arginine; ii) substitution of the serine at position 258 with a glycine; iii) substitution of the glutamine at position 287 with a glutamic acid; iv) substitution of the threonine at position 288 with a glycine; v) substitution of the isoleucine at position 289 with an alanine; vi) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 109 with a glycine; vii) substitution of the histidine at position 150 with a tyrosine; viii) substitution of the phenylalanine at position 303 with a leucine; ix) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 358 with a tyrosine; x) substitution of the serine at position 431 with a threonine; and xi) substitution of the glutamic acid at position 128 with a glycine. [10] The production method of [1], wherein the 4R-IHOG is contacted with the L-amino acid aminotransferase using a transformant that expresses the L-amino acid aminotransferase. [11] The production method of [1], further comprising condensing indole-3-pyruvate and pyruvate to form the 4R-IHOG. [12] The production method of [11], the indole-3-pyruvate and the pyruvate are condensed by contacting the indole-3-pyruvate and the pyruvate with an aldolase. [13] The production method of [11], wherein at least part of the pyruvate used in the formation of the 4R-IHOG is from pyruvate formed from the oxaloacetate due to action of the oxaloacetate decarboxylase. [14] The production method of [11], further comprising deaminating a tryptophan to form the indole-3-pyruvate. [15] The production method of [14], wherein the tryptophan is deaminated by contacting the tryptophan with a deamination enzyme. [16] The production method of [11] or [14], wherein the production of the 2S,4R-Monatin or the salt thereof is carried out in one reactor. [17] A method for producing 2R,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, comprising the following (I) and (II): (I) performing the method of [1] to form the 2S,4R-Monatin; and (II) isomerizing the 2S,4R-Monatin to form the 2R,4R-Monatin. [18] The production method of [17], wherein the 2S,4R-Monatin is isomerized in the presence of an aromatic aldehyde. [19] The production method of [17], wherein the salt is a sodium salt or a potassium salt. [20] An L-amino acid aminotransferase that is a protein selected form the group consisting of the following (A)-(D): (A) a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:53, or SEQ ID NO:61; (B) a protein comprising the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:53, or SEQ ID NO:61; (C) a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence showing 90% or more identity to the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:53, or SEQ ID NO:61, and having an L-amino acid aminotransferase activity; and (D) a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence comprising mutation of one or several amino acid residues, which is selected from the group consisting of deletion, substitution, addition and insertion of the amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:53, or SEQ ID NO:61, and having an L-amino acid aminotransferase activity. [21] The L-amino acid aminotransferase of [20], wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase comprises one or more mutations of amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of the amino acid residues at position 39, position 109, position 128, position 150, position 258, position 287, position 288 and position 289, position 303, position 358 and position 431 in the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2. [22] The L-amino acid aminotransferase of [21], wherein the one or more mutations of amino acid residues are selected from the group consisting of: i) substitution of the lysine at position 39 with an arginine; ii) substitution of the serine at position 258 with a glycine; iii) substitution of the glutamine at position 287 with a glutamic acid; iv) substitution of the threonine at position 288 with a glycine; v) substitution of the isoleucine at position 289 with an alanine; vi) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 109 with a glycine; vii) substitution of the histidine at position 150 with a tyrosine; viii) substitution of the phenylalanine at position 303 with a leucine; ix) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 358 with a tyrosine; x) substitution of the serine at position 431 with a threonine; and xi) substitution of the glutamic acid at position 128 with a glycine. [23] A polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of the following (a)-(e): (a) a polynucleotide consisting of the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:52, or SEQ ID NO:60; (b) a polynucleotide comprising the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:52, or SEQ ID NO:60; (c) a polynucleotide consisting of a nucleotide sequence showing 90% or more identity to the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:52, or SEQ ID NO:60, and encoding a protein having an L-amino acid aminotransferase activity; (d) a polynucleotide that hybridizes under a stringent condition with a polynucleotide consisting of the nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:52, or SEQ ID NO:60, and encodes a protein having an L-amino acid aminotransferase activity; and (e) a polynucleotide encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase of [20]. [24] An expression vector comprising the polynucleotide of [23]. [25] A transformant introduced with the expression vector of [24]. [26] A method for producing an L-aminotransfearase, comprising culturing the transformant of [25] in a medium to obtain the L-amino acid aminotransferase. [27] A method of producing 2S,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, comprising contacting 4R-IHOG with the L-amino acid aminotransferase of [20] in the presence of an L-amino acid to form the 2S,4R-Monatin. [28] A method for producing 2R,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, comprising the following (I′) and (II′): (I′) performing the method of [27] to form the 2S,4R-Monatin; and (II′) isomerizing the 2S,4R-Monatin to form the 2R,4R-Monatin. [29] The production method of [28], wherein the 2S,4R-Monatin is isomerized in the presence of an aromatic aldehyde. [30] The production method of [28], wherein the salt is a sodium salt or a potassium salt.

Effect of the Invention

The method of the present invention can contribute to improvement of the yield of the Monatin by producing the 2S,4R-Monatin with a good yield from 4R-IHOG using the L-amino acid aminotransferase. The method of the present invention has an advantage that it is not necessary to use an expensive D-amino acid (D-Asp and the like) as a substrate when the 2S,4R-Monatin is formed from IHOG or that it is not necessary to add an enzyme such as racemase to form the D-amino acid from an L-amino acid. In the method of the present invention, when performing not only the reaction to form the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG (third step) but also the reaction to form IPA from L-Trp (first step) and the reaction to form 4R-IHOG from IPA (second step), whole reaction equilibrium can be defined in the third step and the reaction equilibrium in the second step can be largely shifted to a direction to form 4R-IHOG. In this case, the method of the present invention makes it possible to produce the 2S,4R-Monatin with a very good yield by avoiding a by-product of L-Trp (progress of a reverse reaction of the first step).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing one example of the production method of the present invention. Trp: tryptophan; IPA: indole-3-pyruvate; IHOG: 4-(indole-3-yl-methyl)-4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutaric acid; Monatin: 4-(indole-3-yl-methyl)-4-hydroxy-glutamic acid.

FIG. 2 is a view showing one example of the production method of the present invention. Abbreviations are the same as in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view showing a preferable example of the production method of the present invention. L-Trp: L-tryptophan; L-Asp: L-aspartic acid; OAA: oxaloacetate; PA: pyruvate; and the other abbreviations are the same as in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a reaction of forming 2S,4R-Monatin from L-Trp in 400 ml scale using the L-amino acid aminotransferase mutant (ID166). SR-Monatin: 2S,4R-Monatin; SS-Monatin: 2S,4S-Monatin; IHOG: 4R-IHOG; Trp: L-Trp.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a reaction of forming 2S,4R-Monatin from L-Trp in 80 ml scale using the L-amino acid aminotransferase mutant (ID189). The abbreviations are similar to those of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a reaction of forming 2S,4R-Monatin from L-Trp in 80 ml scale using the L-amino acid aminotransferase mutant (ID296). The abbreviations are similar to those of FIG. 4.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (1) Method for Producing 2S,4R-Monatin or a Salt Thereof

The present invention provides a method (1) for producing 2S,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof. The production method of the present invention can be classified into (1-1) a method for producing the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG, (1-2) a method for producing the 2S,4R-Monatin from IPA and pyruvate, and (1-3) a method for producing the 2S,4R-Monatin from tryptophan. The methods (1-1), (1-2) and (1-3) are common in contacting 4R-IHOG with an L-amino acid aminotransferase in the presence of the L-amino acid to form the 2S,4R-Monatin.

(1-1) Method for Producing 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG

This method comprises contacting 4R-IHOG with the L-amino acid aminotransferase in the presence of the L-amino acid to form the 2S,4R-Monatin (reaction 1). By contacting 4R-IHOG with the L-amino acid aminotransferase in the presence of the L-amino acid, an amino group in the L-amino acid can be transferred to 4R-IHOG to form the 2S,4R-Monatin.

The kinds of the L-amino acid is not particularly limited as long as the amino group in the L-amino acid can be transferred to 4R-IHOG that is an objective substrate by the L-amino acid aminotransferase. Various L-amino acids such as L-α-amino acids are known as such an L-amino acid. Specifically, such an L-amino acid includes L-aspartic acid, L-alanine, L-lysine, L-arginine, L-histidine, L-glutamic acid, L-asparagine, L-glutamine, L-serine, L-threonine, L-tyrosine, L-cysteine, L-valine, L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-proline, L-phenylalanine, L-methionine and L-tryptophan. A salt form of the L-amino acid may be added to a reaction solution. The concentration of the L-amino acid in a reaction solution is, for example, 1 mM to 3 M, preferably 20 mM to 1 M, more preferably 100 mM to 500 mM.

In one embodiment, the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be a protein derived from a microorganism such as a bacterium, actinomycete or yeast. The classification of the microorganisms can be carried out by a classification method well-known in the art, e.g., a classification method used in the database of NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=91347). Examples of the microorganisms from which the L-amino acid aminotransferase is derived include microorganisms belonging to genus Arthrobacter, genus Bacillus, genus Candida, genus Corynebacterium, genus Lodderomyces, genus Micrococcus, genus Microbacterium, genus Nocardia, genus Pseudomonas, genus Rhizobium, genus Stenotrophomonas, genus Dietzia, genus Ochrobactrum, genus Brevundimonas, genus Burkholderia, genus Carnimonas, genus Yarrowia, genus Clostridium, genus Deinococcus, genus Eubacterium, genus Lactobacillus, genus Methanococcus, genus Methanothermobacter, genus Phormidium, genus Pyrococcus, genus Rhodococcus, genus Saccharomyces, genus Saccharophagus, genus Sinorhizobium, genus Thermoanaerobacter, genus Thermotoga, and genus Thermus.

Specifically, examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Arthrobacter include Arthrobacter sp.

Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Bacillus include Bacillus altitudinis, Bacillus cellulosilyticus, Bacillus pumilus, and Bacillus sp. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Candida include Candida norvegensis and Candida inconspicua. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Corynebacterium include Corynebacterium ammonia genes, and Corynebacterium glutamicum. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Lodderomyces include Lodderomyces elongisporus. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Micrococcus include Micrococcus luteus. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Microbacterium include Microbacterium sp. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Nocardia include Nocardia globerula.

Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Pseudomonas include Pseudomonas chlororaphis (e.g., Pseudomonas chlororaphis subsp. chlororaphis), Pseudomonas citronocllolis, Pseudomonas fragi, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas synxantha, Pseudomonas taetrolens, and Pseudomonas sp.

Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Rhizobium include Rhizobium radiobacter and Rhizobium sp. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Stenotrophomonas include Stenotrophomonas sp. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Dietzia include Dietzia marls. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Ochrobactrum include Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Brevundimonas include Brevundimonas diminuta. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Burkholderia include Burkholderia sp. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Carnimonas include Carnimonas sp. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Yarrowia include Yarrowia lypolytica.

Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Clostridium include Clostridium cellulolyticum. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Deinococcus include Deinococcus geothermalis. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Eubacterium include Eubacterium rectale. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Lactobacillus include Lactobacillus acidophilus. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Methanococcus include Methanococcus jannaschii. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Methanothermobacter include Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Phormidium include Phormidium lapideum. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Pyrococcus include Pyrococcus horikoshii. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Rhodococcus include Rhodococcus erythropolis. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Saccharomyces include Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Saccharophagus include Saccharophagus degradans. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Sinorhizobium include Sinorhizobium meliloti. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Thermoanaerobacter include Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Thermotoga include Thermotoga maritima. Examples of the microorganisms belonging to genus Thermus include Thermus thermophilus.

In another embodiment, the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be a naturally occurring protein or an artificial mutant protein. Such an L-amino acid aminotransferase includes those consisting of an amino acid sequence having high homology (e.g., similarity, identity) to an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:73, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:83, SEQ ID NO:85, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:89, SEQ ID NO:91, SEQ ID NO:93, SEQ ID NO:95, SEQ ID NO:97, SEQ ID NO:99, SEQ ID NO:101, SEQ ID NO:103, SEQ ID NO:105, SEQ ID NO:107, SEQ ID NO:109, or SEQ ID NO:111, and having an L-amino acid aminotransferase activity. The term “L-amino acid aminotransferase activity” refers to an activity of transferring the amino group in the L-amino acid to 4R-IHOG that is the objective substrate for forming the 2S,4R Monatin that is an objective compound having the amino group. Specifically, the L-amino acid aminotransferase includes a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence showing 80% or more, preferably 90% or more, more preferably 95% or more and particularly preferably 98% or more or 99% or more homology (e.g., similarity, identity) to the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, and having the L-amino acid aminotransferase activity.

The homology of the amino acid sequences and nucleotide sequences can be determined using algorithm BLAST by Karlin and Altschul (Pro. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90, 5873 (1993)) or FASTA by Pearson (Methods Enzymol., 183, 63 (1990)). Programs referred to as BLASTP and BLASTN (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) have been developed based on this algorithm BLAST. Thus, the homology of the amino acid sequences and the nucleotide sequences may be calculated using these programs with default setting. A numerical value obtained when matching count is calculated as a percentage by using GENETYX Ver. 7.0.9 that is software from GENETYX Corporation and using full length polypeptide chains encoded in ORF with setting of Unit Size to Compare=2 may be used as the homology of the amino acid sequences. The lowest value among the values derived from these calculations may be employed as the homology of the amino acid sequences and the nucleotide sequences.

In further another embodiment, the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence comprising mutation (e.g., deletion, substitution, addition and insertion) of one or several amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:73, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:83, SEQ ID NO:85, SEQ ID NO:87, SEQ ID NO:89, SEQ ID NO:91, SEQ ID NO:93, SEQ ID NO:95, SEQ ID NO:97, SEQ ID NO:99, SEQ ID NO:101, SEQ ID NO:103, SEQ ID NO:105, SEQ ID NO:107, SEQ ID NO:109, or SEQ ID NO:111, and having the L-amino acid aminotransferase activity. The mutation of one or several amino acid residues may be introduced into one region or multiple different regions in the amino acid sequence. The term “one or several amino acid residues” indicate a range in which a three dimensional structure and the activity of the protein are not largely impaired. The term “one or several amino acid residues” in the case of the protein denote, for example, 1 to 100, preferably 1 to 80, more preferably 1 to 50, 1 to 30, 1 to 20, 1 to 10 or 1 to 5 amino acid residues. Such mutation may be attributed to naturally occurring mutation (mutant or variant) based on individual difference, species difference and the like of the microorganism carrying a gene encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase.

A position of the amino acid residue to be mutated in the amino acid sequence is apparent to those skilled in the art. Specifically, a person skilled in the art can recognize the correlation between the structure and the function by 1) comparing the amino acid sequences of the multiple proteins having the same kind of activity (e.g., the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, and amino acid sequences of other L-amino acid aminotransferase), 2) clarifying relatively conserved regions and relatively non-conserved regions, and then 3) predicting a region capable of playing an important role for its function and a region incapable of playing the important role for its function from the relatively conserved regions and the relatively non-conserved regions, respectively. Therefore, a person skilled in the art can specify the position of the amino acid residue to be mutated in the amino acid sequence of the L-amino acid aminotransferase.

When an amino acid residue is mutated by the substitution, the substitution of the amino acid may be conservative substitution. As used herein, the term “conservative substitution” means that a certain amino acid residue is substituted with an amino acid residue having an analogous side chain. Families of the amino acid residues having the analogous side chain are well-known in the art. Examples of such families include an amino acid having a basic side chain (e.g., lysine, arginine or histidine), an amino acid having an acidic side chain (e.g., aspartic acid or glutamic acid), an amino acid having a non-charged polar side chain (e.g., asparagine, glutamine, serine, threonine, tyrosine or cysteine), an amino acid having a non-polar side chain (e.g., glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, phenylalanine, methionine or tryptophan), an amino acid having a β-position branched side chain (e.g., threonine, valine or isoleucine), an amino acid having an aromatic side chain (e.g., tyrosine, phenylalanine, tryptophan or histidine), an amino acid having a hydroxyl group (e.g., alcoholic or phenolic)-containing side chain (e.g., serine, threonine or tyrosine), and an amino acid having a sulfur-containing side chain (e.g., cysteine or methionine). Preferably, the conservative substitution of the amino acids may be the substitution between aspartic acid and glutamic acid, the substitution among arginine, lysine and histidine, the substitution between tryptophan and phenylalanine, the substitution between phenylalanine and valine, the substitution among leucine, isoleucine and alanine, and the substitution between glycine and alanine.

In further another embodiment, the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be a protein encoded by DNA that hybridizes under a stringent condition with a nucleotide sequence complementary to a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:64, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:72, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:76, SEQ ID NO:83, SEQ ID NO:84, SEQ ID NO:86, SEQ ID NO:88, SEQ ID NO:90, SEQ ID NO:92, SEQ ID NO:94, SEQ ID NO:96, SEQ ID NO:98, SEQ ID NO:100, SEQ ID NO:102, SEQ ID NO:104, SEQ ID NO:106, SEQ ID NO:108, or SEQ ID NO:110, and having the L-amino acid aminotransferase activity. The “stringent condition” refers to the condition where a so-called specific hybrid is formed whereas no non-specific hybrid is formed. Although it is difficult to clearly quantify this condition, one example of this condition is the condition where a pair of polynucleotides with high homology (e.g., identity), for example, a pair of polynucleotides having the homology of 80% or more, preferably 90% or more, more preferably 95% or more, and particularly preferably 90% or more are hybridized whereas a pair of polynucleotides with lower homology than that are not hybridized. Specifically, such a condition includes hybridization in 6×SSC (sodium chloride/sodium citrate) at about 45° C. followed by one or two or more washings in 0.2×SSC and 0.1% SDS at 50 to 65° C.

In a preferred embodiment, the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be L-amino acid aminotransferase mutant in which one or more (e.g., one or two) of any amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of the amino acid residues at position 39, position 109, position 128, position 150, position 258, position 287, position 288, position 289, position 303, position 358, and position 431 in the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2 are mutated (e.g., substituted). Preferred examples of the L-amino acid aminotransferase mutant comprise one or more (e.g., one or two) substitutions selected from the group consisting of:

i) substitution of the lysine at position 39 with an arginine; ii) substitution of the serine at position 258 with a glycine; iii) substitution of the glutamine at position 287 with a glutamic acid; iv) substitution of the threonine at position 288 with a glycine; v) substitution of the isoleucine at position 289 with an alanine; vi) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 109 with a glycine; vii) substitution of the histidine at position 150 with a tyrosine; viii) substitution of the phenylalanine at position 303 with a leucine; ix) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 358 with a tyrosine; x) substitution of the serine at position 431 with a threonine; and xi) substitution of the glutamic acid at position 128 with a glycine.

For the combination of the substitution of one or more (e.g., one or two) of any amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of the amino acid residues at position 39, position 109, position 128, position 150, position 258, position 287, position 288, position 289, position 303, position 358 and position 431 in the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2, the combined mutations as shown below can be introduced although the combination of the amino acid substitutions which can be utilized in the present invention is not limited to the following:

a) T288G b) S258G/I289A c) K39R/T288G d) Q287E/T288G e) K39R/D109R/T288G/S431T f) K39R/D109R/T288G/F303L g) D109R/Q287E/T288G/F303L h) D109R/S258G/I289A/F303L i) D109R/Q287E/T288G/S431T j) D109R/S258G/I289A/S431T k) K39R/D109R/E128G/T288G/F303L l) K39R/D109G/E128G/I288G/F303L m) D109R/E128G/Q287E/T288G/F303L n) D109R/E128G/S258G/I289A/S431T o) D109G/E128G/Q287E/T288G/F303L p) D109G/E128G/S258G/I289A/F303L q) K39R/D109G/H150Y/T288G/F303L/D358Y/S431T r) K39R/D109G/E128G/H150Y/T288G/F303L/D358Y s) D109G/H150Y/Q287E/T288G/F303L/D35BY/S431T t) D109G/H150Y/S258G/I289A/F303L/D358Y/S431T u) D109G/E128G/H150Y/Q287E/T288G/F303L/D358Y or v) D109G/E128G/H150Y/S258G/I289A/F303L/D358Y

In one embodiment, the contact of 4R-IHOG with the L-amino acid aminotransferase can be accomplished by allowing 4R-IHOG and the L-amino acid aminotransferase extracted from an L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism (extracted enzyme) to coexist in a reaction solution. Examples of the L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism include the microorganisms that naturally produce the L-amino acid aminotransferase (e.g., the aforementioned microorganisms), and transformants that express the L-amino acid aminotransferase. Specifically, examples of the extracted enzyme include a purified enzyme, a crude enzyme, an immorbilized enzyme, a cuture broth, and a treated product of the culture broth (e.g., an L-amino acid aminotransferase-containing fraction prepared from the above enzyme-producing microorganism, and a disrupted product of and a lysate of the above enzyme-producing microorganism). Examples of the treatment for obtaining the treated product of the culture broth from the culture broth include a heat treatment (42° C. to 80° C., pH 3 to 12, 1 minute to 24 hours), a solvent treatment (e.g, xylene, toluene, ethanol, isopropylalcohol), a surfactant (e.g., Tween 20, Triton X-100), and a treatment with a bacteriolytic enzyme (e.g., lysozyme treatment). Alternatively, the culture broth is subjected to a reaction after retaining it with adjusting temperature, pH and the like to enhance an enzymatic activity detected in the broth. In this case, the temperature may be set at 4° C. to 60° C., preferably 20° C. to 37° C. In addition, the pH may be set at 3 to 12, preferably 7 to 9. The time may be set for about 5 minutes to 20 days, preferably about 1 hour to 7 days. During retaining the broth, aeration and agitation may be or may not be carried out.

In another embodiment, the contact of 4R-IHOG with the L-amino acid aminotransferase can be accomplished by allowing 4R-IHOG and the L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism to coexist in the reaction solution (e.g., culture medium).

The reaction solution used in the production method (1) of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the objective reaction progresses, and for example, water and buffer are used. Examples of the reaction solution include Tris buffer, phosphate buffer (e.g., KH₂PO₄), carbonate buffer, borate buffer and acetate buffer. The concentration of the buffer may be, for example, 0.1 mM to 10 M, preferably 1 mM to 1 M. When the L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism is used in the production method of the present invention, the culture medium may be used as the reaction solution. Such a culture medium can be prepared using a medium described later. The reaction solution used in the production method of the present invention may further comprise pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) as a coenzyme. A salt form of PLP may be added to the reaction solution. The concentration of PLP in the reaction solution may be, for example, 1 μM to 100 mM, preferably 10 μM to 1 mM. When the reaction solution comprises PLP, an effect to form 2R,4R-Monatin from the 2S,4R-Monatin can be expected by an isomerization reaction which can be catalyzed by PLP (e.g., see Example 11).

A pH value of the reaction solution used in the production method (1) of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the objective reaction progresses, and is, for example, pH 5 to 10, is preferably pH 6 to 9 and is more preferably pH 7 to 8.

A reaction temperature in the production method (1) of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the objective reaction progresses, and is, for example, 10 to 50° C., is preferably 20 to 40° C. and is more preferably 25 to 35° C.

A reaction time period in the production method (1) of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the time period is sufficient to form the 2S,4R-Monatin, and is, for example, 2 to 100 hours, is preferably 4 to 50 hours and is more preferably 8 to 25 hours.

When a transformant that expresses the L-amino acid aminotransferase is used as the L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism, this transformant can be made by, for example, making an expression vector of the L-amino acid aminotransferase, and then introducing this expression vector into a host. For example, the transformant that expresses the L-amino acid aminotransferase can be obtained by making the expression vector incorporating DNA having the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:1, and introducing it into an appropriate host. For example, various prokaryotic cells including bacteria belonging to genus Escherichia such as Escherichia coli, genus Corynebacterium (e.g., Corynebacterium glutamicum) and genes Bacillus (e.g., Bacillus subtilis), and various eukaryotic cells including genus Saccharomyces (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae), genus Pichia (e.g., Pichia stipitis) and genus Aspergillus (e.g., Aspergillus oryzae) can be used as the host for expressing the L-amino acid aminotransferase. For the host, a strain having deletion of a certain gene may be used. Examples of such a gene which may be deleted include AspC, an L-amino acid aminotransferase derived from a host, an aldolase derived from a host, a deamination enzyme derived from a host. Examples of the transformants include a transformant carrying a vector in its cytoplasm, and a transformant introduced with a gene of interest into its genome.

An L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism can be cultured using certain culture apparatus (e.g., a test tube, a flask, or a jar fermenter) in a medium having the composition mentioned below. The culture condition can be set appropriately. Specifically, the culture temperature may be 25° C. to 37° C., pH may be 6.5 to 7.5, the culture time may be 1 hour to 100 hours. The cultivation may be carried out with controlling the concentration of dissolved oxygen. In this case, the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO value) in the culture solution may be utilized as an indicator of the controlling.

The condition on aeration and agitation can be controlled such that relative concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO value) in the case of the concentration of oxygen in air being considered 21% is not less than 1% to 10%, preferably 3% to 8%. The cultivation may be batch cultivation or fed-batch cultivation. In the case of the fed-batch cultivation, a sugar source solution and a solution containing phosphate can be continuously or discontinuously added in a sequential manner to continue the cultivation.

The hosts to be transformed are as described above. Describing Escherichia coli in detail, the host can be selected from Escherichia coli K12 strain subspecies, Escherichia coli JM109, DH5α, HB101, BL21 (DE3) strains and the like. Methods for performing the transformation and methods for selecting the transformant are described in Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 3rd edition, Cold Spring Harbor press (2001/01/15) and the like. A method for making transformed Escherichia coli and producing a certain enzyme by the use thereof will be specifically described below as one example.

As a promoter for expressing DNA encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase, the promoter typically used for producing a heterogeneous protein in E. coli can be used, and includes potent promoters such as PhoA, PhoC, T7 promoter, lac promoter, trp promoter, trc promoter, tac promoter, PR and PL promoters of lambda phage, and T5 promoter. PhoA, PhoC and lac are preferred. As the vector, pUC (e.g., pUC19, pUC18), pSTV, pBR (e.g., pBR322), pHSG (e.g., pHSG299, pHSG298, pHSG399, pHSG398), RSF (e.g., RSF1010), pACYC (e.g., pACYC177, pACYC184), pMW (e.g., pMW119, pMW118, pMW219, pMW218), pQE (e.g., pQE30) and derivatives thereof, and the like may be used. The vectors of phage DNA may also be utilized as the other vectors. Further, the expression vector containing the promoter and capable of expressing the inserted DNA sequence may be used. Preferably, the vector may be pUC, pSTV or pMW.

A terminator that is a transcription termination sequence may be ligated to downstream of an L-amino acid aminotransferase gene. Examples of such a terminator include T7 terminator, fd phage terminator, T4 terminator, a terminator of a tetracycline resistant gene, and a terminator of an E. coli trpA gene.

So-called multiple copy types are preferable as the vector for introducing the L-amino acid aminotransferase gene into E. coli, and include plasmids having a replication origin derived from ColE1, such as pUC type plasmids, pBR322 type plasmids or derivatives thereof. Here, the “derivatives” means those in which modification is given to the plasmids by substitution, deletion, insertion, addition and/or inversion of nucleotides. The “modification” as referred to here also includes the modification by mutagenic treatments by mutagenic agents and UV irradiation, or natural mutation, or the like.

For selecting the transformant, it is preferable that the vector has a marker such as an ampicillin resistant gene. As such a plasmid, the expression vectors carrying the strong promoter are commercially available (e.g., pUC types (supplied from TAKARA BIO Inc.), pPROK types (supplied from Clontech), pKK233-2 (supplied from Clontech)).

The L-amino acid aminotransferase is expressed by transforming E. coli with the obtained expression vector and culturing this E. coli.

A medium such as M9-casamino acid medium and LB medium typically used for culturing E. coli may be used as the medium. The medium may contain a certain carbon source, a nitrogen source, and a coenzyme (e.g., pyridoxine hydrochloride). Specifically, peptone, yeast extract, NaCl, glucose, MgSO₄, ammonium sulfate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, ferric sulfate, manganese sulfate, thiamine, hydrolysate of soy with hydrochloric acid, Disfoam GD113-K (NOF Corporation) and the like may be used. Culture conditions and production induction conditions are appropriately selected depending on types of the marker and the promoter in the used vector, the host bacterium and the like.

The following methods and the like are available for recovering the L-amino acid aminotransferase. The L-amino acid aminotransferase can be obtained as a disrupted product or a lysate by collecting the L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism followed by disrupting (e.g., sonication, homogenization) or lysing (e.g., lysozyme treatment) the microbial cells. Also, the purified enzyme, the crude enzyme, the L-amino acid aminotransferase-containing fraction, or the like can be obtained by subjecting such a disrupted product or lysate to techniques such as extraction, precipitation, filtration and column chromatography.

In a preferred embodiment, the production method of the present invention further comprises contacting a keto acid (R—COCOOH) formed from the L-amino acid (e.g., L-α-amino acid) by action of the L-amino acid aminotransferase with a decarboxylase to degrade the keto acid (see the reaction 1′). By promoting the degradation of the keto acid formed from the L-amino acid by an amino group transfer reaction, it is possible to shift the equilibrium of the reaction to form the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG so that the 2S,4R-Monatin is formed in a larger amount.

The decarboxylase used in the present invention is the enzyme that catalyzes a decarboxylation reaction of the keto acid. The decarboxylation reaction by the decarboxylase can be irreversible. Various enzymes are known as the decarboxylase used for the irreversible decarboxylation reaction of the keto acid, and examples thereof include an oxaloacetate decarboxylase derived from Pseudomonas stutzeri (Arch Biochem Biophys., 365, 17-24, 1999) and a pyruvate decarboxylase derived from Zymomonas mobilis (Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 17, 152-157, 1983).

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the production method of the present invention comprises contacting oxaloacetate (CAA) formed from L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) by action of the L-amino acid aminotransferase with the oxaloacetate decarboxylase to form the pyruvate (PA) (see the reaction 1″). By promoting the irreversible formation of the pyruvate from the oxaloacetate, it is possible to shift the equilibrium of the reaction to form the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG so that the 2S,4R-Monatin is formed in a larger amount. A salt form of L-aspartic acid may be added to the reaction solution. The concentration of L-aspartate in the reaction solution is 1 mM to 3 M, preferably 20 mM to 1 M, more preferably 100 mM to 500 mM.

The oxaloacetate decarboxylase used in the present invention is the enzyme that catalyzes the decarboxylation reaction of the oxaloacetate to form the pyruvate. The decarboxylation reaction by the oxaloacetate decarboxylase can be irreversible. Various enzymes are known as the oxaloacetate decarboxylase used for the irreversible decarboxylation reaction of the oxaloacetate. Examples of such an oxaloacetate decarboxylase include the oxaloacetate decarboxylase derived from Pseudomonas stutzeri (Arch Biochem Biophys., 365, 17-24, 1999), the oxaloacetate decarboxylase derived from Klebsiella aerogenes (FEBS Lett., 141, 59-62, 1982), and the oxaloacetate decarboxylase derived from Sulfolobus solfataricus (Biochim Biophys Acta., 957, 301-311, 1988).

When the decarboxylase is used in the production of the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG, the contact of the keto acid formed from the L-amino acid with the decarboxylase can be accomplished by allowing the keto acid and the decarboxylase extracted from a decarboxylase-producing microorganism (extracted enzyme) or the decarboxylase-producing microorganism to coexist in the reaction solution (e.g., culture medium). Examples of the decarboxylase-producing microorganism include microorganisms that naturally produce the decarboxylase and transformants that express the decarboxylase. Examples of the extracted enzyme include a purified enzyme, a crude enzyme, an immobilized enzyme, a culture broth, and a treated product of the culture broth (e.g., a decarboxylase-containing fraction prepared from the above decarboxylase-producing microorganism, and a disrupted product of and a lysate of the above decarboxylase-producing microorganism). Examples of the treatment for obtaining the treated product of the culture broth from the culture broth include a heat treatment (42° C. to 80° C., pH 3 to 12, 1 minute to 24 hours), a solvent treatment (e.g, xylene, toluene, ethanol, isopropylalcohol), a surfactant (e.g., Tween 20, Triton X-100), and a treatment with a bacteriolytic enzyme (e.g., lysozyme treatment). Alternatively, the culture broth is subjected to a reaction after retaining it with adjusting temperature, pH and the like to enhance an enzymatic activity detected in the broth. In this case, the temperature may be set at 4° C. to 60° C., preferably 20° C. to 37° C. The pH may be set at 3 to 12, preferably 7 to 9. The time may be set for about 5 minutes to 20 days, preferably about 1 hour to 7 days. During retaining the broth, aeration and agitation may be or may not be carried out.

When both the L-amino acid aminotransferase and the decarboxylase are used in the production of the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG, the L-amino acid aminotransferase and the decarboxylase may be provided in the reaction solution in the following manner:

L-amino acid aminotransferase (extracted enzyme) and decarboxylase (extracted enzyme);

L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism and decarboxylase (extracted enzyme);

L-amino acid aminotransferase (extracted enzyme) and decarboxylase-producing microorganism;

L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism and decarboxylase-producing microorganism; and

L-amino acid aminotransferase- and decarboxylase-producing microorganism.

Preferably, the L-amino acid aminotransferase- and decarboxylase-producing microorganism may be a transformant. Such a transformant can be made by i) introducing an expression vector of the L-amino acid aminotransferase into the decarboxylase-producing microorganism, ii) introducing an expression vector of the decarboxylase into the L-amino acid aminotransferase-producing microorganism, (iii) introducing a first expression vector of the L-amino acid aminotransferase and a second expression vector of the decarboxylase into a host microorganism, and (iv) introducing an expression vector of the L-amino acid aminotransferase and the decarboxylase into the host microorganism. Examples of the expression vector of the L-amino acid aminotransferase and the decarboxylase include i′) an expression vector containing a first expression unit composed of a first polynucleotide encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase and a first promoter operatively linked to the first polynucleotide, and a second expression unit composed of a second polynucleotide encoding the decarboxylase and a second promoter operatively linked to the second polynucleotide; and ii′) an expression vector containing a first polynucleotide encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase, a second polynucleotide encoding the decarboxylase and a promoter operatively linked to the first polynucleotide and the second polynucleotide (vector capable of expressing polycistronic mRNA). The first polynucleotide encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be located upstream or downstream the second polynucleotide encoding the decarboxylase.

(1-2) Method for Producing 2S,4R-Monatin from IPA and Pyruvate

The production method of the present invention may further comprise condensing IPA and the pyruvate to form 4R-IHOG in order to prepare 4R-IHOG. The condensation of IPA and the pyruvate can be carried out by the organic chemistry process, or an enzymatic method using an aldolase. The method for forming 4R-IHOG by condensing IPA and the pyruvate by the organic chemistry process is disclosed in, for example, International Publication WO2003/059865 and US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0207920. The method for forming 4R-IHOG by condensing IPA and the pyruvate by the enzymatic method using the aldolase is disclosed in, for example, International Publication WO2003/056026, JP 2006-204285-A, US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0244939 and International Publication WO2007/103989. Therefore, in the present invention, these methods can be used in order to prepare 4R-IHOG from IPA and the pyruvate.

IPA used for the preparation of 4R-IHOG is an unstable compound. Therefore, the condensation of IPA and the pyruvate may be carried out in the presence of a stabilizing factor for IPA. Examples of the stabilizing factor for IPA include superoxide dismutase (e.g., see International Publication WO2009/028338) and mercaptoethanol (e.g., see International Publication WO2009/028338). For example, the transformant expressing the superoxide dismutase is disclosed in International Publication WO2009/028338. Thus, such a transformant may be used in the method of the present invention.

The reaction to form 4R-IHOG from IPA and the pyruvate and the reaction to form the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG may be progressed separately or in parallel. These reactions may be carried out in one reactor. When these reactions are carried out in one reactor, these reactions can be carried out by adding the substrates and the enzymes sequentially or simultaneously. Specifically, when the reaction to form 4R-IHOG from IPA and the pyruvate by the enzymatic method using the aldolase and the reaction to form the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG by the L-amino acid aminotransferase are carried out, (1) IPA, the pyruvate and the aldolase, and (2) the L-amino acid and the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be added in one reactor sequentially or simultaneously. A salt form of pyruvate (e.g., sodium salt) may be added to the reaction solution. Pyruvate may be added to the reaction solution in any manner (e.g., batch method, or feed method). The concentration of pyruvate in the reaction solution may be, for example, 0.1 mM to 10 M, preferably 1 mM to 1 M.

In a preferred embodiment, the production method of the present invention is combined with the above reaction 1″ as follows. In this case, the pyruvate irreversibly formed from the oxaloacetate is utilized for the preparation of 4R-IHOG. In other words, at least a part of the pyruvate used for the formation of 4R-IHOG can be from the pyruvate formed from the oxaloacetate by action of the oxaloacetate decarboxylase. In this case, it should be noted that an initial amount of the pyruvate in the reaction system is not necessarily important if an amount of the L-amino acid present in the reaction system is sufficient because the pyruvate is formed from the oxaloacetate in conjunction with the formation of the 2S,4R-Monatin. Therefore, the larger amount of the L-amino acid may be added to the reaction system compared with the pyruvate.

When the aldolase is used in the production of 4R-IHOG from IPA and the pyruvate, the contact of IPA and the pyruvate with the aldolase can be accomplished by allowing IPA, the pyruvate and the aldolase extracted from an aldolase-producing microorganism (extracted enzyme) or the aldolase-producing microorganism to coexist in the reaction solution (e.g., culture medium). Examples of the aldolase-producing microorganism include microorganisms that naturally produce the aldolase and transformants that express the aldolase. Examples of the extracted enzyme include a purified enzyme, a crude enzyme, an immobilized enzyme, a culture broth, and a treated product of the culture broth (e.g., an aldolase-containing fraction prepared from the above aldolase-producing microorganism, a disrupted product of and a lysate of the above aldolase-producing microorganism). Examples of the treatment for obtaining the treated product of the culture broth from the culture broth include a heat treatment (42° C. to 80° C., pH 3 to 12, 1 minute to 24 hours), a solvent treatment (e.g, xylene, toluene), a surfactant treatment. The culture broth may be used under a condition of 4° C. to 60° C., pH 3 to 12, and 5 minutes to 20 days (with or without aeration and agitation). The aldolase-producing microorganism may further express other enzyme(s) (e.g., superoxide dismutase, L-amino acid aminotransferase, decarboxylase). Alternatively, a microorganism that produces the other enzyme in addition to the aldolase-producing microorganism may be allowed to coexist in the reaction solution. Those described in the production method (1-1) of the present invention can be used as the reaction solution.

Preferably, the aldolase-, L-amino acid aminotransferase- and decarboxylase-producing microorganism may be a transformant. The expression of the aldolase, the L-amino acid aminotransferase and the decarboxylase may be carried out using the same transformant, or it may be carried out with a combination of two transformants, or the three enzymes may be expressed in separate transformants. the aldolase, L-amino acid aminotransferase and decarboxylase genes are expressed in the same transformant, these genes may be integrated into its chromosome, or the aldolase, L-amino acid aminotransferase and decarboxylase genes are inserted to one vector. Alternatively, an expression vector of the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be introduced to a microorganism which produces the decarboxylase and aldolase, or a first expression vector of the L-amino acid aminotransferase and a second expression vector of the decarboxylase and the aldolase may be introduced to a host microorganism. Examples of the expression vector of the aldolase, the L-amino acid aminotransferase and the decarboxylase include i′) an expression vector containing a first expression unit composed of a first polynucleotide encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase and a first promoter operatively linked to the first polynucleotide, a second expression unit composed of a second polynucleotide encoding the decarboxylase and a second promoter operatively linked to the second polynucleotide, and a third expression unit composed of a third polynucleotide encoding the decarboxylase and a third promoter operatively linked to the third polynucleotide; and ii′) an expression vector containing a first expression unit composed of a first polynucleotide encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase, a second polynucleotide encoding the decarboxylase and a promoter operatively linked to the first polynucleotide and the second polynucleotide, and a second expression unit composed of a third polynucleotide encoding the aldolase and a promoter operatively linked to the third polynucleotide (a vector capable of expressing a polycistronic mRNA). The positions of genes encoding the L-amino acid aminotransferase, the decarboxylase and the aldolase on a plasmid are not particularly limited.

Various conditions such as the temperature, the pH value and the time period in the reaction can be appropriately established as long as the objective reaction can progress. For example, the conditions of the enzymatic method using the aldolase may be the same as those described in the production method (1-1) of the present invention.

(1-3) Method for Producing 2S,4R-Monatin or a Salt Thereof from Tryptophan or a Salt Thereof

The production method of the present invention may further comprise deaminating a tryptophan (Trp) in order to prepare IPA. Trp includes L-Trp, D-Trp and a mixture of L-Trp and D-Trp. The deamination of Trp can be performed by the organic chemistry technique and the enzymatic method using a deamination enzyme.

Various methods are known as the method for deaminating Trp to form IPA by the organic chemistry technique. Examples of such a method include the method in which the tryptophan is used as a starting material and reacted with pyridine aldehyde in the presence of a base for dehydration of a proton acceptor (e.g., see JP Sho-62-501912 and International Publication WO1987/000169), and the method of subjecting to acid hydrolysis after a condensation reaction using indole and ethyl-3-bromopyruvate ester oxime as raw materials (e.g., European Patent Application Publication No. 421946).

As used herein, the term “deamination enzyme” refers to the enzyme capable of forming IPA from Trp. The formation of IPA from Trp is essentially conversion of the amino group (—NH₂) in Trp to an oxy group (═O). Therefore, the enzymes that catalyze this reaction are sometimes termed as other names such as an amino acid deaminase, an aminotransferase and an amino acid oxidase. Therefore, the term “deamination enzyme” means any enzyme that can form IPA from Trp, and the enzymes having the other name (e.g., amino acid deaminase, aminotransferase, amino acid oxidase) which catalyze the reaction to form IPA from Trp are also included in the “deamination enzyme.”

Examples of the method for forming IPA from Trp using the amino acid deaminase or an amino acid deaminase-producing microorganism include the method disclosed in International Publication WO2009/028338. A general formula of the reaction catalyzed by the amino acid deaminase includes the following formula: Amino acid+H₂O→2-oxo acid+NH₃.

Examples of the method for forming IPA from Trp using the aminotransferase or an aminotransferase-producing microorganism include the methods disclosed in East Germany Patent DD 297190, JP Sho-59-95894-A, International Publication WO2003/091396 and US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/028226.

Examples of the method for forming IPA from Trp using the L-amino acid oxidase or an L-amino acid oxidase-producing microorganism include the methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,963, John A. Duerre et al. (Journal of Bacteriology 1975, vol. 121, No. 2, p 656-663), JP Sho-57-146573, International Publication WO2003/056026 and International Publication WO2009/028338. The general formula of the reaction catalyzed by the amino acid oxidase includes the following formula: Amino acid+O₂+H₂O→2-Oxo acid+H₂O₂+NH₃. For the purpose of suppressing the degradation of the compound by hydrogen peroxide as the by-product produced at that time, a hydrogen peroxide-degrading enzyme such as a catalase may be added in the reaction solution.

The reaction to form IPA from Trp, the reaction to form 4R-IHOG from IPA and the pyruvate and the reaction to form 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG may be progressed separately or in parallel. These reactions may be carried out in one reactor. When these reactions are carried out in one reactor, these reactions can be carried out by adding the substrates and the enzymes sequentially or simultaneously. Specifically, when the reaction to deaminate Trp by the enzymatic method using the deamination enzyme to form IPA, the reaction to form 4R-IHOG from IPA and the pyruvate by the enzymatic method using the aldolase, and the reaction to form 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG by the L-amino acid aminotransferase are carried out, (1) Trp and the deamination enzyme, (2) the pyruvate and the aldolase, and (3) the L-amino acid and the L-amino acid aminotransferase may be added in one reactor sequentially or simultaneously.

When the deamination enzyme is used in the production of IPA from Trp, the contact of Trp with the deamination enzyme can be accomplished by allowing Trp and the deamination enzyme extracted from a deamination enzyme-producing microorganism (extracted enzyme) or the deamination enzyme-producing microorganism to coexist in the reaction solution. Examples of the deamination enzyme-producing microorganism include microorganisms that naturally produce the deamination enzyme and transformants that express the deamination enzyme. For example, the pTB2 strain described in Example 2 of WO 2009/028338 (the modified strain of E. coli introduced with the amino acid deaminase gene derived from the strain of Providencia rettgeri) may be used. An operative promoter (e.g., phoA, phoC, trp, lac, or tac promoter) may be linked to the deaminase gene in the plasmid. When E. coli is used as a host, a plasmid capable of expressing a deaminase may be introduced to a host having a deletion of a certain gene such as aspC gene. Examples of the extracted enzyme include a purified enzyme, a crude enzyme, an immobilized enzyme, a cuture broth, and a treated product of the culture broth (e.g., a deamination enzyme-containing fraction prepared from the above deamination enzyme-producing microorganism, a disrupted product of and a lysate of the above deamination enzyme-producing microorganism). Examples of the treatment for obtaining the treated product of the culture broth from the culture broth include a heat treatment (42° C. to 80° C., pH 3 to 12, 1 minute to 24 hours), a solvent treatment (e.g, xylene, toluene, ethanol, isopropylalcohol), a surfactant (e.g., Tween 20, Triton X-100), and a treatment with a bacteriolytic enzyme (e.g., lysozyme treatment). Alternatively, the culture broth is subjected to a reaction after retaining it with adjusting temperature, pH and the like to enhance an enzymatic activity detected in the broth. In this case, the temperature may be set at 4° C. to 60° C., preferably 20° C. to 37° C. In addition, the pH may be set at 3 to 12, preferably 7 to 9. The time may be set for about 5 minutes to 20 days, preferably about 1 hour to 7 days. During retaining the broth, aeration and agitation may be or may not be carried out. The deamination enzyme-producing microorganism may further express the other enzyme(s) (e.g., aldolase, superoxide dismutase, L-amino acid aminotransferase, decarboxylase). Alternatively, the other enzyme-producing microorganism in addition to the deamination enzyme-producing microorganism may be allowed to coexist in the reaction solution. Those described in the production method (1-1) of the present invention can be used as the reaction solution. Trp is preferably L-trp. A salt form of Trp may be added to the reaction solution. The concentration of Trp in the reaction solution is, for example, 1 mM to 3 M, preferably 20 mM to 1 M, more preferably 20 mM to 300 mM.

Various conditions such as the temperature, the pH value and the time period in the reaction can be appropriately established as long as the objective reaction can progress. For example, the conditions of the enzymatic method using the deamination enzyme may be the same as those described in the production method (1-1) of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment, when the production method (1-3) of the present invention is carried out in one reactor, the deaminase, the aldolase, the L-amino acid aminotransferase, and the oxaloacetate decarboxylase, and/or one or more transformants expressing them are used. The superoxide dimustase, and/or a transformant expressing it may be further used. These enzymes may be mutants. For an expression system of the enzymes, the aforementioned transformants can be used. Specifically, a transformant carrying the expression vector of a gene of interest in its cytoplasm, a transformant introduced with a gene of interest on its genome, and a transformant which carries the expression vector of a gene of interest in its cytoplasm, and which is introduced with a gene of interest on its genome. For an expression vector used in the preparation of the transformant, the aforementioned expression vector can be used.

In a preferred embodiment, when the production method (1-3) of the present invention is carried out in one reactor, a reaction solution containing a certain concentrations of L-Trp, L-Asp, PA, a buffer (e.g., phosphate buffer, Tris buffer) and PLP can be used. The concentration of L-Trp is, for example, 1 mM to 3 M, preferably 10 mM to 1 M, more preferably 50 mM to 300 mM. The concentration of L-Asp is, for example, 1 mM to 3 M, preferably 100 mM to 1 M, more preferably 200 mM to 400 mM. L-Asp may be a salt form (e.g., sodium salt, potassium salt) or a free form. When L-Asp is used in a free form, pH may be appropriately adjusted after supplying it in the reaction solution. In this case, an alkaline solution (e.g., NaOH aqueous solution, KOH aqueous solution) may be used for the adjustment of pH. The concentration of PA is, for example, 1 mM to 3 M, preferably 10 mM to 100 mM. PA may be a salt form (e.g., sodium salt, potassium salt) or a free form. When PA is used in a free form, pH may be adjusted after supplying it in the reaction solution. The concentration of PLP is, for example, 1 μM to 100 mM, preferably 10 μM to 1 mM. The reaction solution may further contain magnesium, phosphate, and antifoaming agent. When magnesium is used as a salt, the salt form of magnesium is not particularly limited, and examples of the salt form include magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate. The concentration of magnesium is, for example, 0.1 mM to 100 mM, preferably 0.5 mM to 5 mM. In addition, the phosphate is used as a salt, the salt form of the phosphate is not particularly limited, and examples of the salt form include a potassium salt (e.g., monopotassium salt, dipotassium salt, tripotassium salt) and a sodium salt (e.g., monosodium salt, disodium salt, trisodium salt). The concentration of the phosphate is, for example, 1 mM to 100 mM, preferably 10 mM to 50 mM. The antifoaming agent is not particularly limited, and examples of the antifoaming agent include GD113K. The concentration of the antifoaming agent is not particularly limited, and is 0.0001% to 1% (v/v), preferably 0.001% to 0.1% (v/v). The reaction condition such as pH, temperature, aeration, agitation and time can be appropriately set. The pH of the reaction solution is, for example, 5 to 10, preferably 6 to 9, more preferably 7 to 8. The control of pH during the reaction may be achieved by adding an acid or alkaline appropriately. The acid or alkaline used in this case is not particularly limited, and examples of the acid or alkaline include hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, ammonium gas, ammonium aqueous solution, NaOH aqueous solution, and KOH aqueous solution. The concentration of the acid or alkaline used in the adjustment of pH is not particularly limited. It is, for example, 0.1 N to 20 N, preferably 3 N to 12 N, when a solution of the acid or alkaline is used. The reaction temperature is, for example, 10° C. to 50° C., preferably 20° C. to 40° C., more preferably 25° C. to 35° C. When a container capable of controlling aeration and agitation (e.g., jar fermenter) is used for the reaction, the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the reaction solution can be set by controlling the conditions on aeration and agitation. A person skilled in the art can set the conditions on aeration and agitation according to the used container. For example, when a jar fermenter with a volume of 1 litter is used, the condition on aeration is, for example, 1/200 to 1 vvm, preferably 1/100 to 1/10 vvm. The condition on agitation is, for example, 100 rpm to 1000 rpm, preferably 400 rpm to 700 rpm. Examples of the enzyme to be added to the reaction include a purified enzyme, a microorganism expressing an enzyme, a treated product of a microorganism expressing an enzyme, a cuture broth containing a microorganism expressing an enzyme, and a treated product of a culture broth containing a microorganism expressing an enzyme. Examples of the treatment for obtaining the treated product of the culture broth from the culture broth include a heat treatment (42° C. to 80° C., pH 3 to 12, 1 minute to 24 hours), a solvent treatment (e.g, xylene, toluene, ethanol, isopropylalcohol), a surfactant (e.g., Tween 20, Triton X-100), and a treatment with a bacteriolytic enzyme (e.g., lysozyme treatment). Alternatively, the culture broth is subjected to a reaction after retaining it with adjusting temperature, pH and the like to enhance an enzymatic activity detected in the broth. In this case, the temperature of the culture broth may be 4° C. to 60° C., preferably 20° C. to 37° C. The pH of the culture broth may be 3 to 12, preferably 7 to 9. The retaining time may be about 5 minutes to 20 days, preferably about 1 hour to 7 days. During retaining the broth, aeration and agitation may be or may not be carried out.

Each enzyme to be added to the reaction solutions can be appropriately determined by measuring an activity of each enzyme previously. The deaminease activity, the aldolase activity, the L-amino acid aminotransferase activity, and the oxaloacetate decarboxylase activity can be measured by the following methods.

Deaminase activity: 10 mM L-Phe, 100 mM NH₄Cl, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH and phenylalanine dehydrogenase (manufactured by UNITIKA, derived from Thermoactinomyces intermedius) at 25° C. The activity is calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm.

L-amino acid aminotransferase activity (L-Asp/α-KG activity): 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM α-KG-2Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH and 2 U/mL of MDH at 25° C. The activity is calculated from the reduction of the absorbance at 340 nm. Malic dehydrogenase from porcine heart (Sigma) was used as MDH.

Aldolase activity: 2 mM 4-phenyl-4-hydroxy-2-oxo glutarate (PHOG), 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.0), 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.25 mM NADH, 10 U/ml lactate dehydrogenase (manufactured by ORIENTAL YEAST Co., Ltd., derived from Leuconostoc mesenteroides) at 25° C. The activity is calculated from the reduction of the absorbance at 340 nm.

Oxaloacetate decarboxylase activity: 1 mM oxaloacetate, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, 10 U/ml lactate dehydrogenase (manufactured by ORIENTAL YEAST Co., Ltd., derived from Leuconostoc mesenteroides) at 25° C. The activity is calculated from the reduction of the absorbance at 340 nm.

Based on the enzymatic activities determined as mentioned above, the amounts of enzymes to be added to the reaction solution may be as follows. The amount of the deaminase to be added to the reaction solution is, for example, 0.1 to 20 U/ml, preferably 0.5 to 2 U/ml. The amount of the aldolase to be added to the reaction solution is, for example, 1 to 1000 U/ml, preferably 10 to 100 U/ml. The amount of the L-amino acid aminotransferase to be added to the reaction solution is, for example, 1 to 1000 U/ml, preferably 10 to 100 U/ml. The amount of the oxaloacetate decarboxylase to be added to the reaction solution is, for example, 0.01 U/ml or more, preferably 0.1 U/ml or more. Each substrate may be added to a reaction system by a batch method or a feed method. The enzyme, the microorganism expressing the enzyme, the treated product of the microorganism expressing the enzyme, the cuture broth containing the microorganism expressing the enzyme, and the treated product of the culture broth containing the microorganism expressing the enzyme may also be added to the reaction system by a batch method or a feed method. The reaction time is, for example, 2 to 100 hours, preferably 4 to 50 hours, more preferably 8 to 25 hours. The reaction solution may be sterilized under an appropriate condition (e.g., temperature, pH, time).

When the production method (1-2) of the present invention is carried out in one reactor, such a production method can be carried out similar to the production method (1-3) of the present invention.

The purified 2S,4R-Monatin can be obtained by taking advantage of known purification methods such as column treatment, crystallization treatment and extraction treatment for a 2S,4R-Monatin-containing reaction solution obtained by any of the production methods (1-1), (1-2) and (1-3) of the present invention. The purified 2S,4R-Monatin can be provided to a method (2) for producing 2R,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof. The 2S,4R-Monatin-containing reaction solution obtained by any of the production methods (1-1), (1-2) and (1-3) of the present invention can also be directly provided to the method (2) for producing the 2R,4R-Monatin or the salt thereof.

(2) Method for Producing 2R,4R-Monatin or a Salt Thereof

The present invention provides a method (2) for producing 2R,4R-Monatin or the salt thereof. The production method of the present invention comprises performing the production method (1) of the present invention to form the 2S,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, and isomerizing the 2S,4R-Monatin or the salt thereof to form 2R,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof.

The isomerization of the 2S,4R-monatin to the 2R,4R-Monatin can be performed by any method that enables the isomerization (e.g., see International Publication WO2005/082850 and International Publication WO03/059865). However, in terms of enhancing a yield of the 2R,4R-Monatin, the isomerization of the 2S,4R-Monatin is preferably performed by epimerization-crystallization (e.g., see International Publication WO2005/082580). The epimerization-crystallization is a method in which the isomerization reaction and the crystallization are performed simultaneously. In this case, the isomerization reaction at position 2 to convert the 2S,4R-Monatin into the 2R,4R-Monatin and the crystallization of the converted 2R,4R-Monatin are performed simultaneously by the epimerization-crystallization.

In the epimerization-crystallization, the isomerization reaction may be performed in the presence of an aldehyde. The aldehyde includes an aliphatic aldehyde and an aromatic aldehyde, and the aromatic aldehyde is preferred. A purified 2S,4R-Monatin or a 2S,4R-Monatin-containing reaction solution may be used as the 2S,4R-Monatin used for the isomerization reaction.

For the aliphatic aldehyde, for example, a saturated or unsaturated aldehyde having 1 to 7 carbon atoms, such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, n-butyl aldehyde, 1-butyl aldehyde, n-valeraldehyde, capronaldehyde, n-heptylaldehyde, acrolein or methacrolein can be used.

For the aromatic aldehyde, the aromatic aldehyde such as benzaldehyde, salicylaldehyde, m-hydroxybenzaldehyde, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, o-nitrobenzaldehyde, p-nitrobenzaldehyde, 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde, 3,5-dichlorosalicylaldehyde, anisaldehyde, o-vanillin, vanillin, furfural, pyridoxal or 5-phosphate pyridoxal can be used. Particularly, pyridoxal, 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde, or 3,5-dichlorosalicylaldehyde is preferred as the aromatic aldehyde.

The aldehyde can be used in the range of 0.01 to 1 mol equivalent and more preferably 0.05 to 0.5 mol equivalent to the Monatin present in the system.

The epimerization-crystallization is performed in the presence of the aldehyde, and a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent is used as a solvent. The organic solvent miscible with the water is used as the organic solvent, and particularly, alcohol such as methanol, ethanol, propanol or isopropanol is preferred. Two or more different kinds of organic solvents may be used in mixture. A volume ratio of the organic solvent to the water is set in the range of preferably 1:0.01 to 1:1 and more preferably 1:0.1 to 1:0.5 (organic solvent:water).

The temperature in the epimerization-crystallization is set in the range of preferably 0 to 100° C. and more preferably 40 to 80° C. The time period for performing the epimerization-crystallization is set in the range of preferably 10 hours to one week and more preferably 15 hours to 96 hours.

The pH value is set in the range of 4 to 13, preferably 4.5 to 10 and more preferably 5 to 9. The pH value can be adjusted using an acid or an alkali. The acid to be used is not particularly limited, and an organic acid such as acetic acid, or an inorganic acid such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid can be used. The alkali is not also particularly limited, and an alkali metal hydroxide such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, or an organic base such as ammonia or amine can be used.

Each compound obtained by the above method can be isolated and purified by optionally combining known separation and purification procedures such as concentration, reduced pressure concentration, solvent extraction, crystallization, recrystallization, solvent transfer, a treatment with activated charcoal, and treatments with chromatography and the like using ion exchange resin or synthetic adsorption resin. The salts of the compound used in the method of the present invention and the compound (objective compound) produced by the method of the present invention can be produced, for example, by adding the inorganic acid or the organic acid to the objective compound according to the method publicly known per se. The objective compound and the salt thereof may be hydrate, and both hydrate and non-hydrate are included in the scope of the present invention. The compounds (e.g., Trp, IPA, 4R-IHOG, 2S,4R-Monatin) used for the production methods of the present invention may be the forms of various salts such as sodium salts, potassium salts and ammonium salts. The compounds (e.g., IPA, 4R-IHOG, 2S,4R-Monatin, 2R,4R-Monatin) obtained by the production method of the present invention may also be the forms of various salts.

The present invention will be described in detail by the following Examples, but the present invention is not limited by these Examples.

EXAMPLES Analytical Condition of HPLC

In Examples 1 to 7, if HPLC analysis was performed, the HPLC analysis was performed under the condition shown in the Example.

In Examples 8 to 15, the HPLC analysis was performed under the condition shown below.

Detector: Ultraviolet absorption spectrometer (measured wavelength: 210 nm)

Column temperature: 40° C.

Column: CAPCELLPAK C18 Type MGII, inner diameter: 3 mm, length: 25 cm, and particle diameter: 5 μm, Shiseido Co., Ltd.

Mobile phase: Solution A (aqueous solution of 20 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate:acetonitrile=95:5) and solution B (aqueous solution of 20 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate:acetonitrile=60:40)

Gradient program: See the following Table 1

TABLE 1 Gradient program Time (min) Mobile phase A (%) Mobile phase B (%) 0.0 100 0 15.0 100 0 40.0 0 100 45.0 0 100 45.1 100 0

Flow: 0.45 mL/minute

Injection amount: 20 IAL

Analysis time period: 60 minutes

Example 1 Formation of 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG Using Extraction Solution from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 Microbial Cells

Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 was streaked on CM2G agar medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of polypeptone, 5 g/L of glucose, 5 g/L of sodium chloride, 15 g/L of agar, pH 7.0), and cultured at 30° C. for 2 days.

One loopful of the resulting microbial cells was inoculated to 3 mL of an enzyme production medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of polypeptone, 1 g/L of glucose, 3 g/L of dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, 1 g/L of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, 0.1 g/L of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, 5 g/L of ammonium sulfate) in a test tube, which was then cultured with shaking at 30° C. for 16 hours. The microbial cells were collected from 2 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to prepare 1 mL of a microbial cell suspension.

1 g of glass beads (0.1 mm) was added to 1 mL of this microbial cell suspension, and the microbial cells were disrupted using a multi beads shocker (Yasui Kikai Co., Ltd.). The resulting disrupted cell solution was centrifuged to use a supernatant as a microbial cell extract.

A 2S,4R-Monatin synthesis reaction solution (0.1 mL) (9.5 mM 4R-IHOG, 0.5 mM 4S-IHOG, 100 mM L-Asp, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0) was prepared so that 0.05 mL of the Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 microbial cell extract was contained. The reaction solution was reacted at 30° C. for 20 hours. After termination of the reaction, the formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified, and its concentration was 0.21 mM.

The 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified using UPLC (Waters). The analytical condition is as follows.

Mobile phase: 20 mM KH₂PO₄/asetonitrile=100/5

Flow rate: 0.15 mL/minute

Column temperature: 40° C.

Detection: UV 210 nm

Column: ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18, 2.1×50 mm, 1.7 μm (Waters).

Example 2 Purification of Aminotransferase Derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616

An aminotransferase for forming the 2S,4R-Monatin was purified from a soluble fraction of Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 as follows. The reaction for synthesizing 2S,4R-Monatin and the quantification of 2S,4R-Monatin were performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

(1) Preparation of Soluble Fraction

Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 was streaked on CM2G agar medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of polypeptone, 5 g/L of glucose, 5 g/L of sodium chloride, 15 g/L of agar, pH 7.0), and cultured at 30° C. for 2 days.

One loopful of the resulting microbial cells was inoculated to 160 mL of TB (Terrific Broth) medium in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, which was then cultured with shaking at 30° C. for 16 hours. The microbial cells were collected from about 2000 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, and then disrupted by sonication at 4° C. for 30 minutes. Microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted solution by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

(2) Anion Exchange Chromatography

The above soluble fraction was applied onto an anion exchange chromatography column HiLoad 26/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Health Care Bioscience, CV=53 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, and adsorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been adsorbed to the carrier (unadsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, and subsequently the adsorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 100 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 8 mL/minute. A 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity was measured in each fraction, and detected in the fractions corresponding to about 200 mM NaCl.

(3) Hydrophobic Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity had been detected were combined, and ammonium sulfate and Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) were added thereto at final concentrations of 1.4 M and 20 mM, respectively. This solution was applied to a hydrophobic chromatography column HiLoad 16/10 Phenyl Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Health Care Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 1.4 M ammonium sulfate, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and adsorbed to the carrier. Unadsorbed proteins that had not been adsorbed to the carrier were washed out with 1.4 M ammonium sulfate, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and subsequently, a 2S,4R-Monatin forming enzyme was eluted by linearly changing the concentration of ammonium sulfate from 1.4 M to 0 M at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity was measured in each fraction, and detected in the fractions corresponding to about 1.0 M ammonium sulfate.

(4) Gel Filtration Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity had been detected were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30K (Millipore). The resulting concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 150 mM NaCl. This solution was applied to a gel filtration column HiLoad 16/60 Superdex 200 pg (supplied from GE Health Care Bioscience, CV=120 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 150 mM NaCl, and eluted at a flow rate of 1 mL/minute. This manipulation confirmed the 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity in a location estimated as a molecular weight of about 120 kDa.

(5) Anion Exchange Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity had been detected were combined and applied to an anion exchange chromatography column Mono Q 5/5 (supplied from Pharmacia (GE Health Care Bioscience), CV=1 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl, 100 mM NaCl (pH 7.6), and adsorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been adsorbed to the carrier (unadsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, and subsequently the adsorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 100 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity was measured in each fraction, and detected in the fractions corresponding to about 200 mM NaCl.

(6) SDS-PAGE

The obtained fractions were subjected to SDS-PAGE, and a band around 45 kDa was observed in the active fraction. This band was subjected to analysis of an N-terminal amino acid sequence as a candidate for the aminotransferase for forming the 2S,4R-Monatin. The band was also subjected to the analysis of an internal amino acid sequence.

Example 3 Determination of N-Terminal and Internal Amino Acid Sequences of Aminotransferase Derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616

The purified enzyme solution obtained in Example 2 was subjected to the analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence, and the sequence SGFTALSEAELNDLY (SEQ ID NO:4) was obtained as the N-terminal amino acid sequence. The sample in SDS-PAGE gel was treated with trypsin (pH 8.0, 35° C., 20 hours), and subsequently subjected to reverse phase HPLC to separate peptide fragments. The amino acid sequences in the fractionated fractions were analyzed, and the sequence QLDLSMGMLDVV (SEQ ID NO:5) was obtained as the internal amino acid sequence. Both the N-terminal amino acid sequence and the internal amino acid sequence exhibited high homology to the aminotransferase derived from Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 (YP001487343).

Example 4 Cloning of Aminotransferase Gene Derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616

Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 was cultured in the same manner as in Example 1. The microbial cells were collected from the cultured medium by centrifugation, and genomic DNA was extracted.

A DNA fragment including an aminotransferase gene was amplified by PCR using the obtained genomic DNA as a template. For primers, the primer Bp-u300-f (5′-ctcaggaagcaggcgcaaaaagattaattt-3′ (SEQ ID NO:6) and the primer Bp-d200-r (5′-ggatgctgtctttgtcatcccaaagtggat-3′ (SEQ ID NO:7) were used, which were designed from DNA sequences of upstream 300 bp and downstream 200 bp in the aminotransferase gene with reference to the genomic DNA sequence of Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 (CP000813). PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle 94° C., 2 min 25 cycles 98° C., 10 sec 55° C., 10 sec 68° C., 60 sec  1 cycle 68° C., 60 sec  4° C.

A nucleotide sequence of about 1800 bp of the amplified DNA fragment was determined, and the nucleotide sequence was shown to include 1308 bp of ORF that had the high homology to the aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 (NC 009848). The homology was 89% in the DNA sequences and 93% in the amino acid sequences.

The N-terminal amino acid sequence and the internal amino acid sequence obtained in Example 3 were found in this sequence. Thus, it was thought that the aminotransferase gene having the 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity could have been acquired.

Example 5 Expression of Aminotransferase Derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 in E. coli

(1) Construction of Plasmid Expressing Aminotransferase Derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616

A DNA fragment including the aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 was amplified by PCR using the genomic DNA of Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 as the template. The primer 1616AT-Nde-f (5′-ggaattccatATGAGCGGTTTTACAGCGTT-3′: SEQ ID NO:8) and the primer 1616-xho-r (5′-gtcaaggagtttttctcgagTACCGTTGGTGCTGATTGAC-3′: SEQ ID NO:9) were used as the primers. A NdeI sequence in the aminotransferase gene was converted using the primer 1616-delNde-f (5′-GGATTGAAGGAACAcATGAAAAAGCATGC-3′: SEQ ID NO:10) and the primer 1616-delNde-r (5′-GCATGCTTTTTCATgTGTTCCTTCAATCC-3′: SEQ ID NO:11). PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle 94° C., 2 min 25 cycles 98° C., 10 sec 55° C., 10 sec 68° C., 60 sec  1 cycle 68° C., 60 sec  4° C.

The resulting DNA fragment of about 1300 bp was treated with restriction enzymes NdeI and XhoI, and then ligated to pET-22b (Novagen) likewise treated with NdeI and XhoI. E. coli JM109 was transformed with this solution containing the ligated product, the objective plasmid was extracted from ampicillin resistant colonies, and this plasmid was designated as pET-22-1616AT-His. This plasmid expresses the aminotransferase derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 which has the His-tag to C-terminus end (1616AT-His).

(2) Purification of 1616AT-His from E. coli Expression Strain

The constructed expression plasmid pET-22-1616AT-His was introduced into E. coli BL21 (DE3). One loopful of the resulting transformant was inoculated to 160 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and cultured with shaking at 37° C. for 16 hours. After the termination of the cultivation, microbial cells were collected from about 1000 mL of the resulting cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole, and disrupted by sonication at 4° C. for 30 minutes. Microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted solution by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The obtained soluble fraction was applied to a His-tag protein purification column HisPrep FF 16/10 (supplied from Pharmacia (GE Health Care Bioscience), CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole, and adsorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been adsorbed to the carrier (unadsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole, and subsequently the adsorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of imidazole from 20 mM to 250 mM at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute.

The obtained fractions were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30K (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, and applied to the anion exchange chromatography column HiLoad 16/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE health Care Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, and adsorbed to the carrier. The proteins that had not been adsorbed to the carrier (unadsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl, and subsequently the adsorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 100 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute.

The 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction, and the fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin forming activity had been confirmed were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30K (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as a 1616AT-His solution.

Example 6 Synthesis Reaction of 2S,4R-Monatin, Using 1616AT-His

The 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified by HPLC analysis. The analytical condition was as follows.

Mobile phase: 20 mM KH₂PO₄/acetonitrile-100/5

Flow rate: 1.0 mL/minute

Column temperature: 40° C.

Detection: UV 280 nm

Column: CAPCELL PAK MGII, 4.6×150 mm, 3 μm, (Shiseido Co., Ltd.)

(1) Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG

The 1616AT-His solution prepared so as to contain 0.5 mg of 1616AT-His (Example 5) was added to 0.1 mL of the reaction solution (9.5 mM 4R-IHOG, 0.5 mM 4S-IHOG, 80 mM L-Asp, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0), and then reacted at 25° C. for 12 hours. After the termination of the reaction, the formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified, and its concentration was 8.6 mM.

(2) Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from Indole Pyruvate (IPA) and Pyruvate (PA)

A reaction mixture was prepared so as to contain 0.5 mg of 1616AT-His (the 1616AT-His solution in Example 5 was used), 0.01 mg of SpAld (a solution having an aldolase activity, the preparation method of the solution is explained in detail below, see also JP 2006-204285-A) and 1 U of oxaloacetate decarboxylase (Sigma, 04878) in 0.1 mL of a reaction solution (50 mM IPA, 100 mM PA, 100 mM L-Asp, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, 100 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 8.0), and reacted at 25° C. for 2 hours. After the termination of the reaction, the formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified, and its concentration was 5.0 mM.

(3) Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from L-Trp

A reaction mixture was prepared so as to contain 5 mg of 1616AT-His (the 1616AT-His solution in Example 5 was used), 0.2 mg of SpAld, 0.4 mL of the cultured medium (TB medium) of pTB2 strain (a bacterial strain capable of expressing a deamination enzyme, the preparation method of the bacterial strain is explained in detail below, see also WO2009/028338) in the Sakaguchi flask, 200 U of superoxide dismutase (Sigma, S8160) and 10 U of oxaloacetate decarboxylase (Sigma, 04878) in 1.0 mL of a reaction solution (50 mM L-Trp, 100 mM PA, 400 mM L-Asp, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, 100 mM potassium phosphate buffer, pH 6.5), and reacted at 25° C. for 12 hours. The reaction was performed using a test tube with shaking at 140 rpm. After the termination of the reaction, the formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified, and its concentration was 22 mM (44% of yield).

SpAld was prepared by the following method.

A DNA fragment including a SpAld gene was amplified by PCR using plasmid DNA, ptrpSpALD described in Example 5 in JP 2006-204285-A as the template. The primer SpAld-f-NdeI (5′-GGAATTCCATATGACCCAGACGCGCCTCAA-3′: SEQ ID NO:12) and the primer SpAld-r-HindIII (5′-GCCCAAGCTTTCAGTACCCCGCCAGTTCGC-3′: SEQ ID NO:13) were used. E. coli rare codons (6L-ctc, 13L-ctc, 18P-ccc, 38P-ccc, 50P-ccc, 77P-ccc, 81P-ccc and 84R-cga) in an aldolase gene were converted to 6L-ctg, 13L-ctg, 18P-ccg, 38P-ccg, 50P-ccg, 77P-ccg, 81P-ccg and 84R-cgc, respectively. When 6L was converted, the primer 6L-f (5′-ACCCAGACGCGCCTGAACGGCATCATCCG-3′: SEQ ID NO:14) and the primer 6L-r (5′-CGGATGATGCCGTTCAGGCGCGTCTGGGT-3′: SEQ ID NO:15) were used. When 13L was converted, the primer 13L-f (5′-ATCATCCGCGCTCTGGAAGCCGGCAAGCC-3′: SEQ ID NO:16) and the primer 13L-r (5′-GGCTTGCCGGCTTCCAGAGCGCGGATGAT-3′: SEQ ID NO:17) were used. When 18P was converted, the primer 18P-f (5′-GAAGCCGGCAAGCCGGCTTTCACCTGCTT-3′: SEQ ID NO:18) and the primer 18P-r (5′-AAGCAGGTGAAAGCCGGCTTGCCGGCTTC-3′: SEQ ID NO:19) were used. When 38P was converted, the primer 38P-f (5′-CTGACCGATGCCCCGTATGACGGCGTGGT-3′: SEQ ID NO:20) and the primer 38P-r (5′-ACCACGCCGTCATACGGGGCATCGGTCAG-3′: SEQ ID NO:21) were used. When 50P was converted, the primer 50P-f (5′-ATGGAGCACAACCCGTACGATGTCGCGGC-3′: SEQ ID NO:22) and the primer 50P-r (5′-GCCGCGACATCGTACGGGTTGTGCTCCAT-3′: SEQ ID NO:23) were used. When 77P, 81P and 84P were converted, the primer 77P-81P-84R-f (5′-CGGTCGCGCCGTCGGTCACCCCGATCGCGCGCATCCCGGCCA-3′: SEQ ID NO:24) and the primer 77P-81P-84R-r (5′-TGGCCGGGATGCGCGCGATCGGGGTGACCGACGGCGCGACCG-3′: SEQ ID NO:25) were used. PCR was performed using KOD-plus (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle 94° C., 2 min 25 cycles 94° C., 15 sec 55° C., 15 sec 68° C., 60 sec  1 cycle 68° C., 60 sec  4° C.

The resulting DNA fragment of about 900 bp was treated with the restriction enzymes NdeI and HindIII, and ligated to pSFN Sm_Aet (Examples 1, 6 and 12 in International Publication WO2006/075486) likewise treated with NdeI and HindIII. E. coli JM109 was transformed with this solution containing the ligated product. The objective plasmid was extracted from ampicillin resistant strains, and this plasmid was designated as pSFN-SpAld.

One loopful of E. coli JM 109/pSFN-SpAld that was the bacterial strain carrying the constructed plasmid pSFN-SpAld was inoculated to 50 mL of LB liquid medium containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and cultured with shaking at 36° C. for 8 hours. After the termination of the culture, 0.0006 mL of the obtained cultured medium was added to 300 mL of a seed liquid medium (10 g of glucose, 5 g of ammonium sulfate, 1.4 g of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, 0.45 g of hydrolyzed soybeans as a nitrogen amount, 1 g of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, 0.02 g of iron (II) sulfate heptahydrate, 0.02 g of manganese (II) sulfate pentahydrate, 1 mg of thiamin hydrochloride, 0.1 mL of Disfoam GD-113K (NOF Corporation), pH 6.3, made to one liter with water) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 1000 mL volume of jar fermenter, and seed cultivation was started. The seed cultivation was performed at 33° C. with ventilation at 1/1 vvm with stirring at 700 rpm and controlling pH at 6.3 with ammonia until glucose was consumed. Then, 15 mL of the cultured medium obtained as above was added to 285 mL of a main liquid medium (15 g of glucose, 5 g of ammonium sulfate, 3.5 g of phosphoric acid, 0.45 g of hydrolyzed soybeans as the nitrogen amount, 1 g of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, 0.05 g of iron (II) sulfate heptahydrate, 0.05 g of manganese (II) sulfate pentahydrate, 1 mg of thiamin hydrochloride, 0.1 mL of Disfoam GD-113K (NOF Corporation), pH 6.3, made to 0.95 L with water) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 1000 mL volume of jar fermenter, and main cultivation was started. The main cultivation was performed at 36° C. with ventilation at 1/1 vvm, pH was controlled to 6.3 with ammonia, and stirring was controlled at 700 rpm or more so that the concentration of dissolved oxygen was 5% or more. After glucose contained in the main medium was consumed, the cultivation was continued with dropping a glucose solution at 500 g/L for total 50 hours.

Microbial cells were collected by centrifugation from 100 mL of the obtained cultured medium, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and disrupted by sonication at 4° C. for 30 minutes. Microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted solution by centrifugation, and the obtained supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The above soluble fraction was applied to the anion exchange chromatography column HiLoad 26/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE health Care Bioscience, CV=53 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and adsorbed to the carrier. The proteins that had not been adsorbed to the carrier (unadsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and subsequently, the adsorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 8 mL/minute. Fractions having an aldolase activity were combined, and ammonium sulfate and Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) were added thereto at final concentrations of 1 M and 20 mM, respectively.

The resulting solution was applied to the hydrophobic chromatography column HiLoad 16/10 Phenyl Sepharose HP (supplied from GE health Care Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 1 M ammonium sulfate, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and adsorbed to the carrier. The proteins that had not been adsorbed to the carrier were washed out with 1 M ammonium sulfate, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and subsequently, the adsorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of ammonium sulfate from 1 M to 0 M at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute. The fractions having the aldolase activity were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 10K (Millipore). The obtained concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and used as a SpAld solution. The aldolase activity was measured as an aldol degradation activity using PHOG as the substrate under the following condition.

Reaction condition: 50 mM Phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), 2 mM PHOG, 0.25 mM NADH, 1 mM MgCl₂, 16 U/mL lactate dehydrogenase, an absorbance at 340 nm was measured at 25° C.

pTB2 strain was prepared by the following method.

One loopful of pTB2 strain described in Example 2 in International Publication WO2009/028338 was inoculated to 50 mL of the TB liquid medium containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and cultured with shaking at 37° C. for 16 hours. The obtained cultured medium was used as the cultured medium of pTB2 strain in the Sakaguchi flask (TB medium).

Example 7 Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin by Microorganisms Having 2S,4R-Monatin Forming Activity (1) Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin by Bacteria

Rhizobium radiobacter LAT1, Rhizobium radiobacter AJ11568, Dietzia maris AJ2788, Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ3447, Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ13127, Pseudomonas chlororaphis subsp. chlororaphis NBRC3904, Micrococcus luteus NBRC3067, Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ11634, Pseudomonas putida NBRC12668, Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense AJ3735, Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ1591, Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ3839, Brevundimonas diminuta AJ3958, Pseudomonas citronocllolis ATCC13674, Arthrobacter sp. AJ1436, Rhizobium sp. AJ12469, Rhizobium radiobacter AJ2777, Burkholderia sp. AJ3084, Microbacterium sp. AJ2787, Pseudomonas taetrolens ATCC4683, Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC4452, Rhizobium radiobacter AJ2557, Carnimonas sp. AJ3230, Rhizobium radiobacter NBRC12667, Pseudomonas fragi NBRC3458, Rhizobium radiobacter NBRC12664, Corynebacterium ammoniagenes NBRC12072, Pseudomonas sp. AJ1594, Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC6466, Pseudomonas synxantha NBRC3912, Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC4720, or Pseudomonas sp. AJ2438 was applied onto a nutrient broth (NB) agar medium or the CM2G agar medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of polypeptone, 5 g/L of glucose, 5 g/L of NaCl, 15 g/L of agar, pH 7.0), and cultured at 30° C. for 2 days.

One loopful of the obtained microbial cells was inoculated to 3 mL of an enzyme production medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of polypeptone, 1 g/L of glucose, 3 g/L of dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, 1 g/L of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, 0.1 g/L of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, 5 g/L of ammonium sulfate) in a test tube, which was then cultured with shaking at 30° C. for 16 hours. The microbial cells were collected from 2 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to prepare 1 mL of a microbial cell suspension.

Then, 1 g of glass beads (0.1 mm) was added to 1 mL of this microbial cell suspension, and the microbial cells were disrupted using the multi beads shocker (Yasui Kikai Co., Ltd.). The resulting disrupted cell solution was centrifuged to use a supernatant as a microbial cell extract.

The reaction of synthesizing 2S,4R-Monatin and the quantification of 2S,4R-Monatin were performed in the same manner as in Example 1, and amounts of the 2S,4R-Monatin which was formed were as follows (Table 2)

TABLE 2 Amount of 2S,4R-Monatin which was produced Amount of 2S,4R-Monatin Microorganism which was formed Rhizobium radiobacter LAT1 3.8 mM Rhizobium radiobacter AJ11568 3.5 mM Dietzia maris AJ2788 3.2 mM Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ3447 2.7 mM Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ13127 2.7 mM Pseudomonas chlororaphis subsp 2.6 mM chlororaphis NBRC3904 Micrococcus luteus NBRC3067 2.3 mM Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ11634 2.2 mM Pseudomonas putida NBRC12668 2.2 mM Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense AJ3735 2.2 mM Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ1591 2.1 mM Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ3839 2.1 mM Brevundimonas diminuta AJ3958 2.0 mM Pseudomonas citronocllolis ATCC13674 1.9 mM Arthrobacter sp. AJ1436 1.7 mM Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 1.6 mM Rhizobium radiobacter AJ2777 1.5 mM Burkholderia sp. AJ3084 1.5 mM Microbacterium sp. AJ2787 1.5 mM Pseudomonas taetrolens ATCC4683 1.4 mM Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC4452 1.4 mM Rhizobium radiobacter AJ2557 1.4 mM Carnimonas sp. AJ3230 1.4 mM Rhizobium radiobacter NBRC12667 1.3 mM Pseudomonas fragi NBRC3458 1.3 mM Rhizobium radiobacter NBRC12664 1.3 mM Corynebacterium ammoniagenes 1.2 mM NBRC12072 Pseudomonas sp. AJ1594 1.2 mM Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC6466 1.2 mM Pseudomonas synxantha NBRC3912 1.1 mM Rhizobium radiobacter ATCC4720 1.1 mM Pseudomonas sp. AJ2438 1.0 mM

(2) Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin by Actinomycete

Nocardia globerula ATCC21022 was applied onto a YMPG agar medium (3 g/L of yeast extract, 3 g/L of malt extract, 5 g/L of polypeptone, 10 g/L of glucose, 15 g/L of agar, pH 7.0), and cultured at 30° C. for 2 days.

One loopful of the obtained microbial cells was inoculated to 3 mL of a YMPG medium (3 g/L of yeast extract, 3 g/L of malt extract, 5 g/L of polypeptone, 10 g/L of glucose, pH 7.0) in a test tube, and cultured with shaking at 30° C. for 16 hours. The microbial cells were collected from 2 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to prepare 1 mL of a microbial cell suspension.

Then, 1 g of glass beads (0.1 mm) was added to 1 mL of this microbial cell suspension, and the microbial cells were disrupted using the multi beads shocker (Yasui Kikai Co., Ltd.). The resulting disrupted cell solution was centrifuged to use a supernatant as a microbial cell extract.

The reaction of synthesizing 2S,4R-Monatin and the quantification of 2S,4R-Monatin were performed in the same manner as in Example 1, and amount of the 2S,4R-Monatin which was formed was as follows (Table 3)

TABLE 3 Amount of 2S,4R-Monatin which was formed Amount of 2S4R-Monatin Microoganism which was formed Nocardia globerula ATCC21022 0.57 mM

(3) Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin by Yeast

Lodderomyces elongisporus CBS2605, Candida norvegensis NBRC0970, Candida inconspicua NBRC0621 or Yarrowia lypolytica NBRC0746 was applied onto a YPD agar medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 20 g/L of polypeptone, 20 g/L of glucose, 15 g/L of agar), and cultured at 30° C. for 2 days.

One loopful of the obtained microbial cells was inoculated to 3 mL of a YPD medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 20 g/L of polypeptone, 20 g/L of glucose) in a test tube, and cultured with shaking at 30° C. for 16 hours. The microbial cells were collected from 2 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to prepare 1 mL of a microbial cell suspension.

Then, 1 g of glass beads (0.5 mm) was added to 1 mL of this microbial cell suspension, and the microbial cells were disrupted using the multi beads shocker (Yasui Kikai Co., Ltd.). The resulting disrupted cell solution was centrifuged to use a supernatant as a microbial cell extract.

The reaction of synthesizing 2S,4R-Monatin and the quantification of 2S,4R-Monatin were performed in the same manner as in Example 1, and amount of the 2S,4R-Monatin which was formed were as follows (Table 4)

TABLE 4 Amount of 2S,4R-Monatin which was formed Amount of 2S4R-Monatin Microorganism which was formed Lodderomyces elongisporus CBS2605 0.57 mM Candida norvegensis NBRC0970 0.55 mM Candida inconspicua NBRC0621 0.52 mM Yarrowia lypolytica NBRC0746 0.52 mM

Example 8 Production of 2S,4R-Monatin Potassium Salt Dihydrate

After 149.00 g of ethanol was added to a reduction reaction concentrated solution (containing 36.62 g (125.28 mmol) of Monatin, (2S,4R):(2R,4R)=32:68), 0.25 g of 2R,4R-Monatin potassium salt monohydrate was added as seed crystals, and the mixture was stirred at 56° C. for 4 hours to perform preferential crystallization of the 2R,4R-Monatin potassium salt monohydrate. The crystallized crystals were separated by filtration (wet crystals 31.27 g) to obtain 225.80 g of a mother solution (containing 22.41 g (76.68 mmol) of Monatin, (2S,4R):(2R,4R)=53:47). This mother solution was cooled to 10° C. and stirred for 5 hours to crystallize 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate. The crystals were separated by filtration (wet crystals 32.74 g), and dried under reduced pressure to yield 9.88 g (15.68 mmol) of the objective 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate (HPLC purity: 55.5%). Then, 9.35 g of the crude crystals were dissolved in 25.37 g of water, and 58.99 g of ethanol was added to this dissolved solution, which was stirred at 25° C. for 5 hours to refine the 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dehydrate by crystallization. The crystals were separated by filtration (wet crystals 4.49 g), and dried under reduced pressure to yield 3.75 g (9.62 mmol) of the objective 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate (HPLC purity: 96.0%).

A water content and a potassium content of the obtained crystals (2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate) were analyzed by a water measurement method and a cation analysis method using ion chromatography. Details of the performed water measurement method and cation analysis method are shown below.

(Water Measurement Method)

Measurement apparatus: Hiranuma Automatic Water Measurement Apparatus AQV-2000 (supplied from Hiranuma Sangyo Corporation)

Measurement condition: Titration solution=Hydranal Composite 5K (supplied from Riedel de Haen)

(Cation Analysis Method)

Apparatus: Tosoh IC2001

Column: TSKgel SuperIC-Cation (4.6×150 mm)

Guard column: TSKgel SuperIC-Cation (1 cm)

Suppress gel: TSKgel TSKsuppressIC-C

Column temperature: 40° C.

Eluant flow: 0.7 mL/minute

Sample injection amount: 30 μL

Detection: Electric conductivity

Eluant composition: 2.2 mM methanesulfonic acid+1.0 mM 18-crown-6-ether+0.5 mM histidine mixed aqueous solution

¹H NMR (400 MHz, D₂O) δ:2.11 (dd, J=19.0, 27.0 Hz, 1H), 2.39 (dd, J=5.0, 27.0 Hz, 1H), 3.14 (s, 2H), 3.90 (dd, J=5.0, 19.0 Hz, 1H), 7.06 (m, 1H), 7.13 (m, 1H), 7.15 (s, 1H), 7.40 (d, 8.5 Hz, 1H), 7.6 (d, 8.5 Hz, 1H)

ESI-MS Calculated value: C₁₄H₁₆N₂O₅=292.11

ESI-MS Analyzed value: C₁₄H₁₆N₂O₅=290.9 [M-H]⁻

Example 9 Isomerization Reaction Using 5-Nitrosalicylaldehyde

0.15 g (0.38 mmol) of the 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate was added to 10.0 g of an aqueous solution of 70% ethanol, and completely dissolved at 60° C. 7.6 mg (0.045 mmol) of 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde and 7.5 μL (0.13 mmol) of acetic acid were added to that dissolved solution, and stirred at 60° C. for 48 hours. The reaction solution was analyzed and quantified by HPLC, and a molar ratio of 2S,4R-Monatin and 2R,4R-Monatin in the reaction solution was 1:2.1.

Example 10 Isomerization Reaction Using Pyridoxal Hydrochloride Salt

0.15 g (0.38 mmol) of the 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate was added to 10.0 g of the aqueous solution of 70% ethanol, and completely dissolved at 60° C. 9.1 mg (0.045 mmol) of pyridoxal hydrochloride and 7.5 μL (0.13 mmol) of acetic acid were added to that dissolved solution, and stirred at 60° C. for 48 hours. The reaction solution was analyzed and quantified by HPLC, and the molar ratio of 2S,4R-Monatin and 2R,4R-Monatin in the reaction solution was 1:1.3.

Example 11 Isomerization Reaction Using Pyridoxal 5-Phosphate Monohydrate

0.15 g (0.38 mmol) of the 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate was added to 10.0 g of the aqueous solution of 70% ethanol, and completely dissolved at 60° C. 12.8 mg (0.048 mmol) of pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate and 7.5 μL (0.13 mmol) of acetic acid were added to that dissolved solution, and stirred at 60° C. for 48 hours. The reaction solution was analyzed and quantified by HPLC, and the molar ratio of 2S,4R-Monatin and 2R,4R-Monatin in the reaction solution was 1:1.1.

Example 12 Isomerization Reaction Using Salicylaldehyde

0.15 g (0.38 mmol) of the 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate was added to 10.0 g of the aqueous solution of 70% ethanol, and completely dissolved at 60° C. 5.3 mg (4.6 μL, 0.043 mmol) of salicylaldehyde and 7.5 μL (0.13 mmol) of acetic acid were added to that dissolved solution, and stirred at 60° C. for 48 hours. The reaction solution was analyzed and quantified by HPLC, and the molar ratio of 2S,4R-Monatin and 2R,4R-Monatin in the reaction solution was 1:0.6.

Example 13 Isomerization Reaction Using 3,5-Dichlorosalicylaldehyde

0.15 g (0.38 mmol) of the 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate was added to 10.0 g of the aqueous solution of 70% ethanol, and completely dissolved at 60° C. 8.1 mg (0.042 mmol) of 3,5-dichlorosalicylaldehyde and 7.5 μL (0.13 mmol) of acetic acid were added to that dissolved solution, and stirred at 60° C. for 48 hours. The reaction solution was analyzed and quantified by HPLC, and the molar ratio of 2S,4R-Monatin and 2R,4R-Monatin in the reaction solution was 1:1.5.

Example 14 Production of 2R,4R-Monatin Potassium Salt Monohydrate by Isomerization-Crystallization Using 2S,4R-Monatin Potassium Salt Dihydrate as Starting Material

The 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate is added to an aqueous solution of 20% ethanol and completely dissolved at 60° C. 5 molar percent 5-Nitrosalicylaldehyde relative to the 2S,4R-Monatin, and 30 molar percent acetic acid relative to the 2S,4R-Monatin are added to this dissolved solution, and stirred for 48 hours. Ethanol at a final concentration of 70% is added to this reaction solution (2S,4R-Monatin:2R,4R-Monatin=1:2.1), subsequently one percent 2R,4R-Monatin potassium salt monohydrate relative to the 2R,4R-Monatin in the reaction solution is added as the seed crystals thereto, and the mixture is stirred at 60° C. for 48 hours to perform the isomerization-crystallization. The crystallized crystals are separated by filtration, and dried under reduced pressure to yield the objective 2R,4R-Monatin potassium salt monohydrate.

Example 15 Isomerization Reaction Using Glyoxylic Acid

0.15 g (0.38 mmol) of the 2S,4R-Monatin potassium salt dihydrate was added to 10.0 g of the aqueous solution of 70% ethanol, and completely dissolved at 60° C. 5.1 mg (0.069 mmol) of glyoxylic acid and 7.5 μL (0.13 mmol) of acetic acid were added to that dissolved solution, and stirred at 60° C. for 48 hours. The reaction solution was analyzed and quantified by HPLC, and the molar ratio of 2S,4R-Monatin and 2R,4R-Monatin in the reaction solution was 1:0.07

Example 16 Production of L-Amino Acid Aminotransferase (LAT) Mutants Derived from AJ1616 Strain and Measurement of Specific Activity for Various Keto Acids (1) Production of Mutated LAT-Expressing Plasmid by Site-Directed Mutagenesis

Plasmids expressing a mutated LAT derived from AJ1616 strain were produced by site-directed mutagenesis in accordance with protocols of QuickChange Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit supplied from Stratagene. One set of primers designed so that a mutation (substitution) was introduced into a target nucleotide residue and became complementary in respective chains of double stranded DNA was synthesized. The produced mutants and the nucleotide sequences of the primers used for the production of the mutants are shown in Tables 5 and 6, respectively. The mutant plasmids were produced using pET22-AJ1616LAT-His(C) as the template under the following PCR condition:

 1 cycle 95° C., 1 min 18 cycles 95° C., 30 sec 55° C., 1 min 68° C., 8 min after completion of the cycles  4° C.

The template pET22-AJ1616LAT-His(C) was cleaved by treating with the restriction enzyme Dpn I (37° C., one hour) cleaving by recognition of methylated DNA, and subsequently E. coli JM109 was transformed with the resulting reaction solution. The plasmid was collected from the transformant, and it was confirmed by sequencing the nucleotides that the mutation (substitution) of the target nucleotide residue had been introduced. ID136 that was a double mutant of S258C/I289A was constructed by making an S258G mutant plasmid followed by repeating the same manipulation using the primers for introducing an I289A mutation. ID189 that was a double mutant of K39R/T288G was constructed by making an ID166 (T288G) mutant plasmid followed by repeating the same manipulation using the primers for introducing a K39R mutation. ID296 that was a double mutant of Q287E/T288G was constructed by making a T288G mutant plasmid followed by repeating the same manipulation using the primers for introducing a Q287E/T288G mutation.

TABLE 5 Mutants which were prepared ID Mutants ID136 S258G/I289A ID166 T288G ID189 K39R/T288G ID296 Q287E/T288G

TABLE 6 Nucleotide sequences of primers used for introducing mutation Nucleotide sequences Mutants Primer names (SEQ ID NOs) K39R K39R_FW gacatgtctagagggcgtccttcaccaaaacag (SEQ ID NO: 26) K39R_RV ctgttttggtgaaggacgccctctagacatgtc (SEQ ID NO: 27) S258G S258G_FW gttcgcctctactggtaaaattacgttccc (SEQ ID NO: 28) S258G_RV gggaacgtaattttaccagtagaggcgaac (SEQ ID NO: 29) T288G T288G_FW cagctatcagttcaaggcattgggccagataaaatc (SEQ ID NO: 30) T288G_RV gattttatctggcccaatgccttgaactgatagctg (SEQ ID NO: 31) I289A I289A_FW ctatcagttcaaaccgctgggccagataaaatc (SEQ ID NO: 32) I289A_RV gattttatctggcccagcggtttgaactgatag (SEQ ID NO: 33) Q287E/ Q287E_T288G_FW Cagctatcagttgaaggcattgggccag T288G (SEQ ID NO: 34) Q287E_T288G_RV ctggcccaatgccttcaactgatagctg (SEQ ID NO: 35)

(2) Expression and Purification of Mutated LAT

E. coli JM109 (DE3) was transformed with the obtained mutant AJ1616 LAT-expressing plasmid to produce a mutant AJ1616 LAT-expressing strain. Microbial cells of the mutant AJ1616 LAT-expressing strain pET22-AJ1616LATmut-His(C)/E. coli JM109 (DE3) that was grown on an LB-amp (100 mg/L) plate were inoculated to 100 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin, and cultured with shaking at 37° C. for 16 hours using a Sakaguchi flask. After completion of the cultivation, the microbial cells were collected from the resulting medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, followed by being sonicated. Microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted suspension by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction. The resulting soluble fraction was applied onto a His-tagged protein purification column, His TALON superflow 5 ml Cartridge (Clontech) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and absorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and subsequently, the absorbed proteins were eluted using 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 150 mM imidazole at a flow rate of 5 mL/minute. Resulting fractions were combined, and the combined fraction was concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30K (Millipore). The concentrated fraction was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as a mutant AJ1616 LAT solution. If necessary, the purification was performed by increasing the amount of the medium and the number of the His TALON columns to be connected.

(3) Measurement of Protein Concentration

A protein concentration was measured using a protein assay CBB solution (diluted to 5 folds for the use) supplied from Nacalai Tesque. The protein concentration was calculated by preparing a standard curve using solutions containing 0.05, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 mL/mL BSA as the standards.

(4) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/α-KG, L-Asp/PA and L-Asp/±MHOG by colorimetric assay

The activity of AJ1616 LAT for various substrates was measured. 100 mM L-Asp was used as an amino donor substrate in a transamination reaction, and a specific activity for 10 mM various keto acids was measured by a colorimetric assay.

Activity for L-Asp/α-KG (α-ketoglutaric acid): measured in 100 mM L-Asp-Na, 10 mM α-KG-2Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, and 2 U/mL MDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of absorbance at 340 nm. Malic dehydrogenase from porcine heart (Sigma) was used as MDH. The activity for L-Asp/α-KG is shown in the column “α-KG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 9.

Activity for L-Asp/PA: measured in 100 mM L-Asp-Na, 10 mM PA-2Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, and 2 U/mL MDH (same as above) at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance at 340 nm. The activity for L-Asp/PA is shown in the column “PA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 9.

Activity for L-Asp/(±)-MHOG (4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate): measured in 100 mM L-Asp-Na, 10 mM (±)-MHOG, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, 2 U/mL MDH and 10 U/mL LDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance at 340 nm. D-Lactate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides (Oriental Yeast) was used as LDH. LDH was added in order to remove PA in a trace amount contaminated in (±)-MHOG. The activity for L-Asp/(±)-MHOG is shown in the column “(±)-MHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 9.

(5) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG and L-Asp/IPA

The activity of forming 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG, which was an objective activity, and the activity of forming a byproduct L-Trp from IPA were measured. 100 mM L-Asp was used as the amino donor substrate in the transamination reaction, the transamination reaction to 10 mM keto acid was performed. The amount of formed amino acid was quantified by UPLC or HPLC, and the specific activity was calculated.

Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG (10 mM): measured in 100 mM L-Asp-Na, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. Formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by UPLC analysis. The reaction was stopped using a 200 mM citrate Na solution (pH 4.5). The activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG is shown in the column “4R-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 9.

Activity for L-Asp/IPA: measured in 100 mM L-Asp-Na, 10 mM IPA, 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) (pH was adjusted to 8.0 with 1 N NaOH after preparing the reaction solution) at 25° C. Formed Trp was quantified by the UPLC analysis. The reaction was stopped using the 200 mM citrate Na solution (pH 4.5). The activity for L-Asp/IPA is shown in the column “IPA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 9.

Formed Monatin and Trp were quantified using ACQUITY UPLC system supplied from Waters. A measurement condition is shown below. The reaction in 0.2 mL was performed for 15 minutes, and then stopped. The reaction solution after stopping the reaction was centrifuged, and then about 0.2 mL of the supernatant was subjected to the UPLC analysis. Results obtained by measurement using serial dilutions in which the concentrations of the samples and a blank fell into the range of 0.01 to 0.05 mM were employed as activity values.

TABLE 7 UPLC Column: ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 2.1 × 50 mm Column Temp.: 40° C. Sample Temp.: 4° C. Detection: UV 210 nm Injection vol.: 5 μl Mobile Phase A: 20 mM KH2PO4 (Filt.) Mobile Phase B: ACN Flow rate: 0.5 ml/min Method: 20 mM KH2PO4_05_HSS Time (min) A (%) B (%) 0 96 4 1.9 96 4 2.0 60 40 2.2 60 40 2.3 96 4 3.0 96 4

2S,4R-Monatin, 2S,4S-Monatin and Trp can be quantified separately at 1.1 minutes, 1.5 minutes and 1.3 minutes, respectively.

The quantification using HPLC under the following analysis condition was also performed in conjunction with the above.

HPLC condition (quantification condition for Monatin, Trp, IPA, IAA (indole acetate), IAD (indole aldehyde))

Column: CAPCELL PAK C18 TYPE MGII 3 μm, 4.6 mm×150 mm (Shiseido)

Column temperature: 40° C.

Detection wavelength: 280 nm

Flow rate: 1.0 mL/minute

Mobile phase: A: 20 mM KH₂PO₄/CH₃CN=100/5, B: CH₃CN

TABLE 8 Time (min) A (%) B (%) 0 100 0 6 100 0 11 90 10 25 90 10 26 100 0 30 100 0

(6) Results of Measuring Specific Activity of AJ1616 Strain LAT Mutants Against Various Keto Acids

The results of the specific activity against 10 mM keto acid are shown in Table 9, which were measured with the produced mutant and L-Asp as the amino donor. The objective activity of forming 2S,4R-Monatin using 4R-IHOG as the substrate was enhanced in any of the produced mutants. Concerning relative values of side reaction relative to the objective activity, the activity of producing the byproduct L-Trp, the activity of producing the byproduct MHG (4-hydroxy-4-methyl glutamate), and the activity of producing the byproduct L-Ala, relative to the objective activity (activity of forming 2S,4R-Monatin) were reduced in any of the mutants.

TABLE 9 Specific activities of mutants relative to various keto acids. Relative values of side reaction relative to Aminotransferase activity of forming activity (U/mg) 2S,4R-Monatin (SR) ID Mutants α-KG PA ±MHOG 4R-IHOG IPA Trp/SR MHG/SR Ala/SR WT WT 235 0.45 1.3 0.92 0.11 0.12 1.45 0.49 136 S258G/I289A 14 0.06 0.09 6.8 0.54 0.08 0.01 0.01 166 T288G 184 0.23 2.1 6.7 0.28 0.04 0.31 0.03 189 K39R/T288G 90 0.23 1.6 9.7 0.31 0.03 0.17 0.02 296 Q287E/T288G 50 0.18 1.5 11.1 0.24 0.02 0.14 0.02

Example 17 Construction of E. coli JM109 ΔaspC Strain and Production of Broth Containing Expressed Deaminase

E. coli JM109 ΔaspC was constructed by following methods. E. coli JM109/pKD46 was cultured at 30° C. overnight on the LB-amp (100 mg/L) plate. Obtained microbial cells were inoculated to 50 mL of LB (containing 100 mg/L of Amp and 10 mM L-arabinose). This was cultured with shaking at 30° C. using the Sakaguchi flask. When OD₆₁₀ became about 0.6, a cultivation temperature was changed to 37° C. and the cultivation was continued with shaking for additional one hour. The microbial cells were collected from the resulting medium by centrifugation, washed with 10% glycerol, and collected again by centrifugation. These were suspended in 10% glycerol to use as competent cells.

Amplification by PCR was performed with pMW118-attL-cat-attR as the template using the primer aspC-L1 (5′-TTTGAGAACATTACCGCCGCTCCTGCCGACCCGATTCTGGGCtgaagcctgcttttttat-3′: SEQ ID NO:36) and the primer aspC-R1 (5′-CAGCACTGCCACAATCGCTTCGCACAGCGGAGCCATGTTATCcgctcaagttagtataaa-3: SEQ ID NO:37). The resulting PCR product was extracted from agarose to use as a DNA fragment for aspC gene disruption. PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo).

The competent cells were transformed with the purified DNA fragment, and an objective transformant was selected on an LB-Cm (20 mg/L) plate at 37° C. It was confirmed by colony PCR that attL-cat-attR was inserted into the aspC gene region of the transformant. The primers used are the primer aspC-up (5′-AACCTCTTGGCAACGGTAAAAAAGCTGAAC-3′: SEQ ID NO: 38), the primer attL-1 (5′-TAGTGACCTGTTCGTTGC-3′: SEQ ID NO:39), the primer aspC-down (5′-GCCTGCGCAAAGTCGTATGTTTGGTCTGGA-5′: SEQ ID NO:40), and the primer attR-1 (5′-TTACGTTTCTCGTTCAGC-3′: SEQ ID NO:41). Z-taq (TAKARA) was used for PCR.

The obtained transformant was inoculated to 3 mL of LB (Cm 20 mg/L), and cultured with shaking at 37° C. for 6 hours. Microbial cells were collected from the resulting medium by centrifugation, washed with 10% glycerol, and the microbial cells were collected again by centrifugation. These were suspended in 10% glycerol to use as competent cells.

The competent cells were transformed with pMW-intxis-ts in order to remove the Cm resistant gene sequence inserted in the genomic DNA. An objective transformant was selected on the LB-amp (100 mg/L) plate at 30° C. The obtained transformant was cultured on the LB plate at 42° C. overnight, and the microbial cells were streaked on the LB-amp (100 mg/L) plate and on the LB-Cm (20 mg/L) plate, respectively and cultured at 37° C. The transformant was confirmed not to grow on both the plate containing Amp and the plate containing Cm. Further the removal of the Cm resistant gene was confirmed by colony PCR using the primer aspC-up (5′-AACCTCTTGGCAACGGTAAAAAAGCTGAAC-3′: SEQ ID NO:38) and the primer aspC-down (5′-GCCTGCGCAAAGTCGTATGTTTGGTCTGGA-5′: SEQ ID NO:40). Z-tag (TAKARA) was used for PCR.

The obtained strain was designated as an aspC-deficient strain, E. coli JM109ΔaspC. A deaminase-expressing strain pTB2/E. coli JM109ΔaspC was constructed by transforming E. coli JM109ΔaspC with a deaminase-expressing plasmid, pTB2. This bacterial strain was cultured on the LB-amp (100 mg/L) at 37° C. overnight. The obtained microbial cells were inoculated to 100 mL of TB-amp (100 mg/L) and cultured with shaking at 37° C. for 16 hours using the Sakaguchi flask. The resulting medium was used as Ps_aad broth.

Example 18 Construction of Oxaloacetate Decarboxylase-Expressing Strain

Synthesis of an OAA decarboxylase gene derived from Pseudomonas putida KT2440 strain was asked GenScript, and a plasmid DNA in which a DNA fragment including the OAA decarboxylase gene had been inserted in pUC57 was obtained. A frequency of codon usage was optimized for expression in E. coli (see SEQ ID NOS:42 and 43). This plasmid was cleaved with NdeI and XhoI, inserted into pET22b cleaved with NdeI and XhoI, and the resulting plasmid was designated as pET22-PpODC-His(C). E. coli BL21 (DE3) was transformed with the resulting plasmid to obtain a PpODC-His(C)-expressing strain, pET22-PpODC-His(C)/E. coli BL21 (DE3). Microbial cells of the PpODC-His(C)-expressing strain, pET22-PpODC-His(C)/E. coli BL21 (DE3) grown on the LB-amp (100 mg/L) plate were inoculated to 100 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen), and cultured with shaking at 30° C. for 16 hours using the Sakaguchi flask. After the termination of cultivation, microbial cells were collected from the resulting medium, and washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, followed by being sonicated. Microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted solution by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction. The resulting soluble fraction was applied onto a His-tagged protein purification column, His TALON superflow 5 ml Cartridge (Clontech) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and absorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and subsequently, the absorbed proteins were eluted using 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 150 mM imidazole at a flow rate of 5 mL/minute. Resulting fractions were combined, and the obtained solution was concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 10K (Millipore). The obtained solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as a PpODC solution.

An ODC activity was measured under the condition shown below.

The measurement of the ODC activity was performed under the following condition.

10 mM OAA, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH and 10 U/mL of LDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance at 340 nm. D-Lactate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides (Oriental Yeast) was used as LDH. The reaction and the analysis on a scale of 1 mL were performed, and activity values in serial dilutions in which a measured value [(sample Δ340 nm/min)-(blank Δ340 nm/min)] fell onto the range of 0.05 to 0.15 were employed. The enzyme was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and 0.01% BSA.

Example 19 One-Pot Synthesis Reaction of 2S,4R-Monatin from 100 mM L-Trp (WT, ID136, ID166)

A reaction was performed for 22 hours using the purified mutant AJ1616 LAT under the following condition. The reaction was performed in a volume of 1 mL using a test tube. Sampling was performed after 14, 18 and 22 hours. The sample was diluted with TE buffer, which was then ultrafiltrated using an Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugation type filter 10 kDa, and a filtrate was analyzed. HPLC was used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 100 mM L-Trp, 50 mM PA-Na, 300 mM L-Asp-Na, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, 20 mM KPB, pH 7.0, 40% Ps_aad broth, 0.2 mg/mL of purified SpAld enzyme, 10 U/mL of commercially available OAA DCase enzyme, 2 U/mL of purified mutant AJ1616 LAT enzyme (vs 10 mM 4R-IHOG), and 200 U/mL of commercially available SOD enzyme at 25° C. at 140 rpm.

Methods for preparing the enzyme subjected to the reaction are described below.

Ps_aad broth: Prepared according to the method described in Example 17.

Purified SpAld enzyme: A jar cultivation of the SpAld-expressing strain was performed according to the method described in Example 6, and the thermal treatment at 60° C. was further performed for one hour. Microbial cells were collected from 100 mL of the resulting medium after the thermal treatment by centrifugation, and washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), followed by being sonicated. Microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted solution by centrifugation. The resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction. Ammonium sulfate and Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) were added so that this soluble fraction contained 1 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). This solution was applied onto a hydrophobic chromatography column HiLoad 26/10 Phenyl Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=53 mL) equilibrated with 1 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and absorbed to the carrier. Unabsorbed proteins which had not been absorbed to the carrier were washed out with 1 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, the absorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of ammonium sulfate from 1 M to 0 M at a flow rate of 8 mL/minute. Fractions in which the activity had been detected were combined, and the obtained solution was concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 10k (Millipore). The resulting concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as an SpAld solution. A PHOG degrading activity measurement method was used for measuring the aldolase activity (measured in 2 mM PHOG, 50 mM KPB, 1 mM MgCl₂, 0.25 mM NADH, and 16 U/mL of LDH at 25° C. (pH 7.0). The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance at 340 nm). D-Lactate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides (Oriental Yeast) was used as LDH.

Mutant AJ1616 LAT: Microbial cells of the mutant AJ1616 LAT-expressing strain, pET22-AJ1616LATmut-His(C)/E. coli JM109 (DE3) grown on the LB-amp (100 mg/L) plate were inoculated to 100 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin, and cultured with shaking at 37° C. for 16 hours using the Sakaguchi flask. After the termination of cultivation, the microbial cells were collected from the resulting medium, and washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mL imidazole, followed by being sonicated. Microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted solution by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction. The resulting soluble fraction was applied onto a His-tagged protein purification column, His TALON superflow 5 ml Cartridge (Clontech) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and absorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and subsequently, the absorbed proteins were eluted using 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 150 mM imidazole at a flow rate of 5 mL/minute. Resulting fractions were combined, and the obtained solution was concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30K (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as a mutant AJ1616 LAT solution. If necessary, the purification was performed by increasing the amount of the culture medium and the number of the His TALON columns to be connected.

OAA DCase: Oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Pseudomonas sp. (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the amount of the enzyme (U).

SOD: Superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the amount of the enzyme (U).

As a result of the one-pot reaction, the yield of 2S,4R-Monatin was enhanced in cases of using the produced 10136 and ID166 mutant enzymes compared with the wild enzyme (Table 10).

TABLE 10 Yield of 2S,4R-Monatin in one-pot reaction using 100 mM Trp as substrate Yield of 2S,4R-Monatin in one-pot reaction (vs. yield of Trp (%)) ID Mutants 14 hr 18 hr 22 hr WT WT 23 30 30 136 S259G/I289A 68 77 72 166 T288G 84 83 85

Example 20 One-Pot Synthesis Reaction of 2S,4R-Monatin from 100 mM Trp (10166 on Scale of 400 mL)

A reaction was performed for 6 hours using purified AJ1616 LAT-ID166 under the following condition. The reaction was performed in a volume of 400 mL using a 1 liter volume jar. Sampling was appropriately performed, the sample was diluted with TE buffer, which was then ultrafiltrated using an Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugation type filter 10 kDa, and a filtrate was analyzed. HPLC and capillary electrophoresis were used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 100 mM L-Trp, 50 mM PA-Na, 300 mM L-Asp-Na, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 20 mM KPB (pH 7.6), pH<7.6 (1 M H₂SO₄), 40% Ps_aad broth, 10% SpAld broth, 5 U/mL of PpODC, 4 U/mL of AJ1616 LAT-ID166 (vs 10 mM 4R-IHOG) and 100 U/mL of SOD at 25° C. at 500 rpm, and with air at 20 mL/min (1/20 vvm).

pTB2/E. coli JM109ΔaspC broth was used as Ps_aad broth. The thermally treated broth described in Example 19 was used as SpAld broth. The purified enzyme described in Example 18 was used as PpODC. Superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used as SOD.

As a result, the accumulation of 86 mM 2S,4R-Monatin was confirmed after 6 hours (FIG. 4). The yield relative to L-Trp calculated after calibrating the solution amount was 89%.

Example 21 One-Pot Synthesis Reaction of 2S,4R-Motatin from 150 mM L-Trp (ID189 on Scale of 80 mL)

A reaction was performed for 27 hours using purified AJ1616 LAT-ID189 under the following condition. The reaction was performed in a volume of 80 mL using a 250 mL volume jar. Sampling was appropriately performed, the sample was diluted with TE buffer, which was then ultrafiltrated using the Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugation type filter 10 kDa, and a filtrate was analyzed. HPLC and capillary electrophoresis were used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 150 mM L-Trp, 50 mM PA-Na, 400 mM L-Asp-Na, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 20 mM KPB (pH 7.6), pH<7.6 (1 M H₂SO₄), 40% Ps_aad broth, 10% SpAld broth, 5 U/mL of PpODC, 4 U/mL of AJ1616 LAT-ID189 (vs 10 mM 4R-IHOG) and 100 U/mL of SOD at 25° C. (380 rpm), and with air at 4 mL/min (1/20 vvm).

pTB2/E. coli JM109ΔaspC broth was used as the Ps_aad broth. The thermally treated broth described in Example 19 was used as the SpAld broth. The purified enzyme described in Example 18 was used as PpODC. Superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used as SOD.

As a result, the accumulation of 105 mM 2S,4R-Monatin was confirmed after 27 hours (FIG. 5). The yield relative to L-Trp calculated after calibrating the solution amount was 78% (FIG. 5).

Example 22 Isolation of 2S,4R-Monatin

2.59 g Of ZN charcoal was added to 435.66 g of a permeated solution obtained by treating 435.45 g of the enzyme reaction solution in Example 20 (lot 101213 J4) with UF (MWCO: 3000), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature (about 26° C.) for one hour. The activated charcoal was filtrated with a Kiriyama filter (5C), and the resulting filtrate was transferred to a 1 liter four-necked flask. The flask was immersed in an incubator at 5° C., the solution was neutralized with 35% hydrochloric acid to adjust pH to 3.5, and stirred using a mechanical stirrer (120 rpm). Then, 48 mg of seed crystals were added, and 1 N hydrochloric acid was sequentially added using a pH controller and a peristaltic pump to keep a target pH because the pH value elevated when the crystals began to precipitate. A slurry solution obtained by stirring for 24 hours was filtrated, the crystals were washed with 10 mL of water, and the wet crystals were dried under reduced pressure at 40° C. to yield 6.81 g of 2S,4R-Monatin. The quality of the obtained crystals was confirmed by HPLC and ¹H-NMR analysis.

HPLC area purity (210 nm): 98.4%

¹H-NMR (in D₂O+K₂CO₃) 2.08-2.14 (1H, dd), 2.35-2.39 (1H, dd), 3.09-3.17 (2H, dd), 3.85-3.88 (1H, dd), 7.04-7.15 (3H, m), 7.39-7.41 (1H, m), 7.64-7.66 (1H, d).

Example 23 Synthesis of 2R,4R-Monatin

3.10 g (10.4 mmol) Of 2S,4R-Monatin obtained in Example 22 and 1.165 g (10.4 mmol) of 50% KOH were dissolved in 3.27 g of water, and further 1.3 g of EtOH, 0.0869 g (0.052 mmol) of 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde, and 0.187 g (3.12 mmol) of acetic acid were added thereto. After 25 hours, 20.5 g of EtOH and 10 mg of seed crystals (2R,4R-Monatin) were added, and the mixture was stirred for additional 46.5 hours. The resulting slurry solution was cooled to room temperature, and then filtrated. The crystals were washed with 4 g of 85% EtOH-water, and the wet crystals were dried under reduced pressure at 40° C. to yield 2.3 g of crude 2R,4R-Monatin. 2.1 g of the resulting crude 2R,4R-Monatin was dissolved in 6 mL of water, 0.2 g of BA charcoal was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature (around 25° C.) for one hour and then filtrated with a 0.45 μm membrane filter. The filtrate was concentrated to 6.38 g under reduced pressure. 12 g Of EtOH was dripped to the concentrated filtrate at 45° C., which was then stirred for one hour. Further, 13.5 g of EtOH was quantitatively dripped over one hour, which was then stirred at 45° C. for 16 hours and subsequently cooled to 25° C. The resulting slurry solution was filtrated, the crystals were washed with 3 g of 85% EtOH-water, and the wet crystals were dried under reduced pressure at 40° C. to yield 1.9 g (5.46 mmol) of 2R,4R-Monatin. The obtained crystals, the mother solution, and the washing solution were analyzed by HPLC to analyze yield and quality.

HPLC area purity (210 nm): 99.9%

¹H-NMR (in D₂O) 1.93-2.00 (1H, dd), 2.57-2.61 (1H, dd), 2.99-3.02 (1H, d), 3.19-3.22 (1H, d), 3.55-3.56 (1H, dd), 7.04-7.15 (3H, m), 7.39-7.41 (1H, m), 7.64-7.66 (1H, d).

TABLE 11 HPLC analysis condition DEGASSER DGU-20A₃ [SHIMAZU] PUMP LC-20AD [SHIMAZU, Two units] Column oven CTO-20AC [SHIMAZU] DIODE ARRAY SPD-M20A [SHIMAZU] DETECTOR Auto sampler SIL-20AC_(HT) [SHIMAZU] COMMUNICATION CBM-20A BUS MODULE System LC solution [SHIMAZU] Column CAPCELL PAC C18 Type MG II 5 μm 3.0 mm Φ × 250 mm [supplied from Shiseido] Column temperature 40° C. Detection wavelength 210 nm Flow rate 0.35 ml/min Composition of mobile Solution A: 20 mM KH₂PO₄/CH₃CN = 100/5 solution Solution B: 20 mM KH₂PO₄/CH₃CN = 30/70 Injection amount 5 μl Autosampler solution CH₃CN/H₂O = 30/70 Solution A Solution B Time (min) (%) (%) Gradient pattern 0 100 0 15 100 0 40 46 54 45 46 54 45.1 100 0 60 100 0

Example 24 One-Pot Synthesis Reaction of 2S,4R-Motatin from 150 mM L-Trp (ID296 on Scale of 80 mL)

A reaction was performed for 51 hours using purified AJ1616 LAT-ID296 under the following condition. The reaction was performed in a volume of 80 mL using a 250 mL volume jar. Sampling was appropriately performed, the sample was diluted with TE buffer, which was then ultrafiltrated using the Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugation type filter 10 kDa, and a filtrate was analyzed. HPLC was used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 150 mM L-Trp, 50 mM PA-Na, 400 mM L-Asp-Na, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 20 mM KPB (pH 7.6), pH<7.6 (1 M H₂SO₄), 40% Ps_aad broth, 10% SpAld broth, 5 U/mL of PpODC, 4 U/mL of AJ1616 LAT-ID296 (vs 10 mM 4R-IHOG) and 100 U/mL of SOD at 25° C. (380 rpm), and with air at 4 mL/min (1/20 vvm).

pTB2/E. coli JM109ΔaspC broth was used as the Ps_aad broth. The thermally treated broth described in Example 19 was used as the SpAld broth. The purified enzyme described in Example 18 was used as PpODC. Superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used as SOD.

As a result, the accumulation of 113 mM 2S,4R-Monatin was confirmed after 39 hours (FIG. 6). The yield relative to L-Trp calculated after calibrating the solution amount was 86% (FIG. 6).

Example 25 Purification of Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976

An aminotransferase that forms 2S,4R-Monatin was purified from a soluble fraction of Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 as follows. The reaction was performed in 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. The formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified by UPLC analysis.

TABLE 12-1 UPLC Column: ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 2.1 × 50 mm Column Temp.: 40° C. Sample Temp.: 4° C. Detection: UV 210 nm Injection vol.: 5 μl Mobile Phase A: 20 mM KH2PO4 (Filt.) Mobile Phase B: ACN Flow rate: 0.5 ml/min Method: 20 mM KH2PO4_05_HSS Time (min) A (%) B (%) 0 96 4 1.9 96 4 2.0 60 40 2.2 60 40 2.3 96 4 3.0 96 4

(1) Preparation of Soluble Fraction

Microbial cells of Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 were spread on an LB agar medium and cultured at 30° C. for two days.

One loopful of the obtained microbial cells was inoculated to 160 mL of an enzyme production medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of trypton, 1 g/L of glucose, 3 g/L of dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, 1 g/L of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, 0.1 g/L of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, and 5 g/L of ammonium sulfate) in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and cultured at 30° C. for 20 hours with shaking. The microbial cells were collected from about 1920 mL of the resulting cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and sonicated at 4° C. for 30 minutes. Microbial cell debris was removed from the sonicated cell suspension by the centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

(2) Anion Exchange Chromatography

The above soluble fraction was applied onto an anion exchange chromatographic column HiLoad 26/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=53 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and absorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, proteins that had been absorbed to the carrier were eluted by linearly changing a concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 2 mL/minute. A 2S,4R Monatin-forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction, and the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was detected in fractions corresponding to about 250 mM NaCl.

(3) Hydrophobic Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and ammonium sulfate and Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) were added thereto so that the concentrations of ammonium sulfate and Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) were 1.0 M and 20 mM, respectively. The resulting solution was applied onto a hydrophobic chromatographic column HiLoad 16/10 Phenyl Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 1.0 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and absorbed to the carrier. Unabsorbed proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier were washed out using 1.0 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, a 2S,4R-Monatin-forming enzyme was eluted by linearly changing the concentration of ammonium sulfate from 1.0 M to 0 M at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in each obtained fraction, and the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was detected in fractions corresponding to about 0.9 M of ammonium sulfate.

(4) Gel Filtration Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 10k (Millipore). The resulting concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and 150 mM NaCl. The resulting solution was applied onto a gel filtration column HiLoad 16/60 Superdex 200 pg (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=120 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and 150 mM NaCl, and proteins were eluted at a flow rate of 1 mL/minute. This manipulation confirmed the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity at a position in which a molecular weight was estimated to be about 100 kDa.

(5) SDS-PAGE

The resulting fraction was subjected to SDS-PAGE, and a single band derived from the active fraction was detected near 47 kDa. This band was subjected to analysis of an N-terminal amino acid sequence as a candidate of the aminotransferase that forms 2S,4R-Monatin.

Example 26 Determination of N-Terminal Amino Acid Sequence of Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976

The purified enzyme solution obtained in Example 25 was subjected to the analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence, and the N-terminal amino acid sequence of AFLADILSRVKPSATIAVTQ (SEQ ID NO:44) was obtained. The N-terminal amino acid sequence showed a high homology to that of aspartate aminotransferase (AAK87940) derived from Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58.

Example 27 Cloning of Aminotransferase Gene Derived from Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976

The microbial cells of Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 were cultured in the same manner as in Example 25. The microbial cells were collected from the cultured medium by centrifugation, and genomic DNA was extracted therefrom.

A DNA fragment including the aminotransferase gene was amplified by PCR using the obtained genomic DNA as a template. Primers were designed from DNA sequences of upstream 100 bp and downstream 100 bp of the aminotransferase gene with reference to the genomic DNA sequence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58. The primer Ag-u100-f (5′-ctggtgcagataagccggcttttgacc-3′: SEQ ID NO:45) and the primer Ag-d100-r (5′-ccaccttcatcatgctgctgtttctcg-3′: SEQ ID NO:46) were used. PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle at 94° C. for 2 minutes 25 cycles at 98° C. for 10 seconds 55° C. for 10 seconds and 68° C. for 60 seconds  1 cycle at 68° C. for 60 seconds, and  4° C.

The nucleotide sequence of the amplified DNA fragment of about 1400 bp was determined, and was shown to be the nucleotide sequence including 1203 bp of ORF (SEQ ID NOs: 47 and 48), which had the high homology to the aspartate aminotransferase gene (Atu2196) derived from Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58. The homology was 92% in their DNA sequences and 97% in their amino acid sequences.

This amino acid sequence was consistent with the N-terminal amino acid sequence obtained in Example 26. Thus, it has been thought that the aminotransferase gene having the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity could be acquired.

Example 28 Expression of Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 in E. coli

(1) Construction of Expression Plasmid for Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976

A DNA fragment including the aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 was amplified by PCR with the genomic DNA of Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 as the template. The primer 3976AT-Nde-f (5′-ggaattccatATGGCCTTCCTTGCCGACATTCTCT-3′: SEQ ID NO:49) and the primer 3976-xho-r (5′-actccgctcgagACGGCAATCGGCGCAGAAACGCTGA-3′: SEQ ID NO:50) were used. PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle at 94° C. for 2 minutes 25 cycles at 98° C. for 10 seconds 55° C. for 10 seconds and 68° C. for 60 seconds  1 cycle at 68° C. for 60 seconds, and  4° C.

The resulting DNA fragment was treated with restriction enzymes NdeI and XhoI, and ligated to pET-22b (Novagen) likewise treated with NdeI and XhoI. E. coli JM109 was transformed with this ligation solution, an objective plasmid was selected from ampicillin resistant colonies, and this plasmid was designated as pET-22-3976AT-His. In this plasmid, the aminotransferase derived from Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 which having a His-tag added to a C-terminus end (3976AT-His) is expressed.

(2) Purification of 3976AT-His from E. coli Strain Expressing 3976AT-His

The constructed expression plasmid pET-22-3976AT-His was introduced into E. coli BL21 (DE3), and one loopful of the transformant was inoculated to 160 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and the Sakaguchi flask was shaken at 37° C. for 16 hours. After completion of the cultivation, microbial cells were collected from about 1000 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole, and sonicated at 4° C. for 30 minutes. Microbial cell debris was removed from the sonicated cell suspension by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The obtained soluble fraction was applied onto a His-tag protein purification column HisPrep FF 16/10 (supplied from Pharmacia (GE Healthcare Bioscience), CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole. Subsequently, the absorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of imidazole from 20 mM to 250 mM at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute.

The obtained fractions were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30k (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and then applied onto an anion exchange chromatographic column HiLoad 16/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, the proteins that had been absorbed to the carrier were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute.

The 2S,4R Monatin-forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction, and the fractions in which the 2S,4R Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30k (Millipore).

The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and used as a 3976AT-His solution.

Example 29 Results of Measuring Specific Activity of AJ3976LAT for Various Keto Acids (1) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/α-KG, L-Asp/PA and L-Asp/(±)-MHOG by Colorimetric Method

The activity of AJ3976LAT for various substrates was measured. The specific activities for 10 mM various keto acids were measured by a colorimetric method, using 100 mM L-Asp as an amino donor substrate for a transamination reaction.

Activity for L-Asp/α-KG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM α-KG-2Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH and 2 U/mL of MDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. Malic dehydrogenase from porcine heart (Sigma) was used as MDH. The activity for L-Asp/α-KG is shown in the column “α-KG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 13.

Activity for L-Asp/PA: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM PA-Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, and 2 U/mL of MDH (same as above) at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. The activity for L-Asp/PA is shown in the column “PA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 13.

Activity for L-ASP/(±)-MHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM (±)-MHOG, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, 2 U/mL of MDH (same as above), and 10 U/mL of LDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. D-Lactate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides (Oriental Yeast) was used as LDH. LDH was added in order to remove PA in a trace amount existed in (±)-MHOG. The activity for L-Asp/(±)-MHOG is shown in the column “(±)-MHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 13.

(2) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG, L-Asp/(±)-IHOG and L-Asp/IPA

The activity to form the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG, the activity to form the 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin from (±)-IHOG, which are objective activities, and the activity to form L-Trp as a by-product from IPA were measured individually. The transamination reaction to 10 mM keto acid was performed using 100 mM L-Asp as the amino donor substrate, and the amount of the formed amino acid was quantified by UPLC to calculate the specific activity.

Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. The formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by UPLC analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG is shown in the column “4R-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 13.

Activity for L-Asp/(±)-IHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM (±)-IHOG, 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. The formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by the UPLC analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG is shown in the column “(±)-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 13.

Activity for L-Asp/IPA: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM IPA, 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) (pH was adjusted to 8.0 with 1 N NaOH after preparing the reaction solution) at 25° C. Formed Trp was quantified by the UPCL analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/IPA is shown in the column “IPA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 13.

The formed Monatin and Trp were quantified using ACQUITY UPLC system supplied from Waters. The condition for the measurement is shown below. 0.2 mL of the reaction solution was reacted for 15 minutes, then the reaction was stopped. The reaction solution after stopping the reaction was centrifuged, and about 0.2 mL of the supernatant was subjected to the UPLC analysis.

TABLE 12-2 UPLC Column: ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 2.1 × 50 mm Column Temp.: 40° C. Sample Temp.: 4° C. Detection: UV 210 nm Injection vol.: 5 μl Mobile Phase A: 20 mM KH2PO4 (Filt.) Mobile Phase B: ACN Flow rate: 0.5 ml/min Method: 20 mM KH2PO4_05_HSS Time (min) A (%) B (%) 0 96 4 1.9 96 4 2.0 60 40 2.2 60 40 2.3 96 4 3.0 96 4

The 2S,4R-Monatin, the 2S,4S-Monatin and Trp can be quantified distinctively at 1.1 minutes, 1.5 minutes and 1.3 minutes, respectively.

(3) Results of Measuring Specific Activity of AJ3976LAT for Various Keto Acids

The results of measuring the specific activity for 10 mM keto acid when 3976-AT-His was used and L-Asp was used as the amino donor are shown in Table 13.

TABLE 13 Specific activity of AJ3976LAT for various keto acids Aminotransferase activity (U/mg) 4R-IHOG ±IHOG α-KG PA ±MHOG SR SS SR SS IPA 106 4.0 48 0.58 1.5 0.052 3.7 0.012

Example 30 Reaction for Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin Using pET-22-3976AT-His/E. coli BL21 (DE3)

One loopful of microbial cells of pET-22-3976AT-His/E. coli BL21 (DE3) prepared in Example 28 was inoculated to 3 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a test tube, and the test tube was then shaken at 37° C. for 16 hours. After the completion of the cultivation, the microbial cells were collected from 1 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, and suspended in 1 mL of BugBuster Master Mix (Novagen). The resulting suspension was incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes to lyse the microbial cells. Microbial cell debris was removed by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The reaction for the synthesis of the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG was carried out using the obtained soluble fraction. To 0.1 mL of a reaction solution [100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0)], 0.05 mL of the above soluble fraction was added, and the mixture was reacted at 25° C. for one hour. After the completion of the reaction, the formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified to be 0.84 mM. The 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified by the UPLC analysis. The condition for the analysis is the same in Example 29.

Example 31 Purification of Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium sp. AJ12469

Aminotransferase that forms 2S,4R-Monatin was purified from the soluble fraction of Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 as follows. The synthetic reaction and quantification of 2S,4R-Monatin was carried out in the same manner as in Example 25.

(1) Preparation of Soluble Fraction

Microbial cells of Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 were spread on the LB agar medium, and cultured at 30° C. for two days.

One loopful of the resulting microbial cells was inoculated to 160 mL of an enzyme production medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of trypton, 1 g/L of glucose, 3 g/L of dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, 1 g/L of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, 0.1 g/L of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, and 5 g/L of ammonium sulfate) in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and cultured at 30° C. for 16 hours with shaking. The microbial cells were collected from about 1920 mL of the resulting cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and sonicated at 4° C. for 30 minutes. The microbial cell debris was removed from the sonicated cell suspension by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

(2) Anion Exchange Chromatography

The above soluble fraction was applied onto an anion exchange chromatographic column HiLoad 26/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=53 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to be absorbed to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, proteins that had been absorbed to the carrier were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 8 mL/minute. The 2S,4R Monatin-forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction, and the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was detected in fractions corresponding to about 200 mM NaCl.

(3) Hydrophobic Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and ammonium sulfate and Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) were added thereto so that the concentrations of ammonium sulfate and Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) were 1.5 M and 20 mM, respectively. The resulting solution was applied onto the hydrophobic chromatographic column HiLoad 16/10 Phenyl Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 1.5 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to be absorbed to the carrier. Unabsorbed proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier were washed out using 1.5 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming enzyme was eluted by linearly changing the concentration of ammonium sulfate from 1.5 M to 0 M at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in obtained each fraction, and the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was detected in fractions corresponding to about 0.8 M ammonium sulfate.

(4) Gel Filtration Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 10k (Millipore). The resulting concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and 150 mM NaCl. The resulting solution was applied onto a gel filtration column HiLoad 16/60 Superdex 200 pg (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=120 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and 150 mM NaCl, and proteins were eluted at a flow rate of 1 mL/minute. This manipulation confirmed the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity at a position at which the molecular weight was estimated to be about 100 kDa.

(5) Anion Exchange Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and the resulting solution was applied onto an anion exchange chromatographic column Mono Q 5/5 (supplied from Pharmacia (GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=1 mL) to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, the absorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in each fraction, and the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was detected in the fractions corresponding to about 300 mM NaCl.

(6) SDS-PAGE

The obtained fractions were subjected to SDS-PAGE, and a band derived from the active fraction was detected near 47 kDa. This band was subjected to the analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence as the candidate for the aminotransferase that forms 2S,4R-Monatin.

Example 32 Determination of N-Terminal Amino Acid Sequence of Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium sp. AJ12469

The purified enzyme solution obtained in Example 31 was subjected to the analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence, and an N-terminal amino acid sequence of AFLADILSRVKPSATIAVTQ (SEQ ID NO:51) was obtained. The N-terminal amino acid sequence showed the high homology to aspartate aminotransferase (AAK87940) derived from Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58.

Example 33 Cloning of Aminotransferase Gene Derived from Rhizobium sp. AJ12469

The microbial cells of Rhizobium radiobacter AJ3976 were cultured in the same manner as in Example 31. The microbial cells were collected from the cultured medium by centrifugation, and genomic DNA was extracted therefrom.

A DNA fragment containing the aminotransferase gene was amplified by PCR with the obtained genomic DNA as the template. Primers were designed from DNA sequences of upstream 100 bp and downstream 100 bp of the aminotransferase gene with reference to the genomic DNA sequence of Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58. The primer Ag-u100-f (5′-ctggtgcagataagccggcttttgacc-3′: SEQ ID NO:45) and the primer Ag-d100-r (5′-ccaccttcatcatgctgctgtttctcg-3′: SEQ ID NO:46) were used. PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle at 94° C. for 2 minutes 25 cycles at 98° C. for 10 seconds 55° C. for 10 seconds and 68° C. for 60 seconds  1 cycle at 68° C. for 60 seconds, and  4° C.

A nucleotide sequence of the amplified DNA fragment of about 1400 bp was determined, and was shown to be the nucleotide sequence including 1203 bp of ORF (SEQ ID NOs:52 and 53), which had the high homology to the aspartate aminotransferase gene (Atu2196) derived from Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58. The homology was 97% in their DNA sequences and 99% in their amino acid sequences.

This amino acid sequence was consistent with the N-terminal amino acid sequence obtained in Example 32. Thus, it has been thought that the aminotransferase gene having the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity could be acquired.

Example 34 Expression of Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 in E. coli

(1) Construction of Expression Plasmid for Aminotransferase Derived from Rhizobium sp. AJ12469

A DNA fragment containing an aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 was amplified by PCR with the genomic DNA of Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 as the template. The primer 12469AT-Nde-f (5′-ggaattccatATGGCCTTCCTTGCCGACATTCTCT-3′: SEQ ID NO:54) and the primer 12469-xho-r (5′-actccgctcgagGCGGCAATCGGCGCAGAAACGCTGA-3′: SEQ ID NO:55) were used. PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle at 94° C. for 2 minutes 25 cycles at 98° C. for 10 seconds 55° C. for 10 seconds and 68° C. for 60 seconds  1 cycle at 68° C. for 60 seconds, and  4° C.

The resulting DNA fragment was treated with restriction enzymes NdeI and XhoI, and ligated to pET-22b (Novagen) likewise treated with NdeI and XhoI. E. coli JM109 was transformed with this ligation solution, an objective plasmid was selected from ampicillin resistant colonies, and this plasmid was designated as pET-22-12469AT-His. In this plasmid, the aminotransferase derived from Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 which has a His-tag added to the C-terminus end (12469AT-His) is expressed.

(2) Purification of 12469AT-His from E. coli Strain Expressing 12469AT-His

The constructed expression plasmid pET-22-12469AT-His was introduced into E. coli BL21 (DE3), and one loopful of the transformant was inoculated to 160 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and the Sakaguchi flask was shaken at 37° C. for 16 hours. After the completion of the cultivation, microbial cells were collected from about 1000 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole, and sonicated at 4° C. for 30 minutes. The microbial cell debris was removed from the sonicated cell suspension by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The obtained soluble fraction was applied onto the His-tag protein purification column HisPrep FF 16/10 (supplied from Pharmacia (GE Healthcare Bioscience), CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 100 mM NaCl and 20 mM imidazole. Subsequently, absorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of imidazole from 20 mM to 250 mM at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute.

The obtained fractions were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30k (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and then applied onto the anion exchange chromatographic column HiLoad 16/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, absorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute.

The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction. The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30k (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as a 12469AT-His solution.

Example 35 Results of Measuring Specific Activity of AJ12469LAT for Various Keto Acids (1) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/α-KG, L-Asp/PA and L-Asp/(±)-MHOG by Colorimetric Method

The activity of AJ12469LAT for various substrates was measured. The specific activity for 10 mM keto acid was measured by the colorimetric method, using 100 mM L-Asp as the amino donor substrate for the transamination reaction.

Activity for L-Asp/α-KG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM α-KG-2Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH and 2 U/mL of MDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. Malic dehydrogenase from porcine heart (Sigma) was used as MDH. The activity for L-Asp/α-KG is shown in the column “α-KG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 15.

Activity for L-Asp/PA: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM PA-Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, and 2 U/mL of MDH (same as above) at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. The activity for L-Asp/PA is shown in the column “PA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 15.

Activity for L-ASP/(±)-MHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM (±)-MHOG, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, 2 U/mL of MDH (same as above), and 10 U/mL of LDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. D-Lactate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides (Oriental Yeast) was used as LDH. LDH was added in order to remove PA in a trace amount contaminated in (±)-MHOG. The activity for L-Asp/(±)-MHOG is shown in the column “(±)-MHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 15.

(2) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG, L-Asp/(±)-IHOG and L-Asp/IPA

The activity to form 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG, the activity to form 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin from (±)-IHOG, which are the objective activities, and the activity to form L-Trp as a by-product from IPA were measured individually. The transamination reaction to 10 mM keto acid was performed using 100 mM L-Asp as the amino donor substrate for the transamination reaction, and the amount of the formed amino acid was quantified by UPLC to calculate the specific activity.

Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. Formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by the UPLC analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG is shown in the column “4R-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 15.

Activity for L-Asp/(±)-IHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM (±)-IHOG, 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. The formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by the UPLC analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/(±)-IHOG is shown in the column “(±)-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 13.

Activity for L-Asp/IPA: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM IPA, 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) (pH was adjusted to 8.0 with 1 N NaOH after preparing the reaction solution) at 25° C. Formed Trp was quantified by the UPCL analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/IPA is shown in the column “IPA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 15.

The formed Monatin and Trp were quantified using ACQUITY UPLC system supplied from Waters. The condition for the measurement is shown below. 0.2 mL of the reaction solution was reacted for 15 minutes, then the reaction was stopped. The reaction solution after stopping the reaction was centrifuged, and about 0.2 mL of the supernatant was subjected to the UPLC analysis.

TABLE 14 UPLC Column: ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 2.1 × 50 mm Column Temp.: 40° C. Sample Temp.: 4° C. Detection: UV 210 nm Injection vol.: 5 μl Mobile Phase A: 20 mM KH2PO4 (Filt.) Mobile Phase B: ACN Flow rate: 0.5 ml/min Method: 20 mM KH2PO4_05_HSS Time (min) A (%) B (%) 0 96 4 1.9 96 4 2.0 60 40 2.2 60 40 2.3 96 4 3.0 96 4

The 2S,4R-Monatin, the 2S,4S-Monatin and Trp can be quantified distinctively at 1.1 minutes, 1.5 minutes and 1.3 minutes, respectively.

(3) Results of Measuring Specific Activity of AJ12469LAT for Various Keto Acids

The results of measuring the specific activity for 10 mM keto acid when 12469-AT-His was used and 100 mM L-Asp was used as the amino donor are shown in Table 15.

TABLE 15 Specific activity of AJ12469LAT for various keto acids Aminotransferase acitivity (U/mg) 4R-IHOG ±IHOG α-KG PA ±MHOG SR SS SR SS IPA 96 4.8 44 0.56 1.6 0.066 3.3 0.016

Example 36 Reaction for Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin Using pET-22-12469AT-His/E. coli BL21 (DE3)

One loopful of microbial cells of pET-22-12469AT-His/E. coli BL21 (DE3) prepared in Example 34 was inoculated to 3 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a test tube, and the test tube was then shaken at 37° C. for 16 hours. After the completion of the cultivation, the microbial cells were collected from 1 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, and suspended in 1 mL of BugBuster Master Mix (Novagen). The resulting suspension was incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes to lyse the microbial cells. The microbial cell debris was removed by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The reaction for the synthesis of the 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG was carried out using the obtained soluble fraction. To 0.1 mL of a reaction solution [100 mM L-Asp-Na-lag, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0)], 0.05 mL of the above soluble fraction was added, and the mixture was reacted at 25° C. for one hour. After the completion of the reaction, the amount of the formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified to be 0.87 mM. The 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified by the UPLC analysis. The condition for the analysis is the same as that in Example 29.

Example 37 Purification of Aminotransferase Derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444

Aminotransferase that formed the 2S,4R-Monatin was purified from a soluble fraction from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444 as follows. The synthetic reaction and quantification of the 2S,4R-Monatin were carried out in the same manner as in Example 25.

(1) Preparation of Soluble Fraction

Microbial cells of Corynebacterium ammonia genes AJ1444 were spread on the LB agar medium and cultured at 30° C. for two days.

One loopful of the obtained microbial cells was inoculated to 160 mL of the enzyme production medium (10 g/L of yeast extract, 10 g/L of trypton, 1 g/L of glucose, 3 g/L of dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, 1 g/L of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, 0.1 g/L of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, and 5 g/L of ammonium sulfate) in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and cultured at 30° C. for 16 hours with shaking. The microbial cells were collected from about 1760 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and disrupted by adding glass beads and using a multibead shocker (Yasui Kikai Corporation). The microbial cell debris was removed from the disrupted cell suspension by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

(2) Ammonium Sulfate Precipitation

Ammonium sulfate was added to the above soluble fraction so that a final concentration of ammonium sulfate was 90% (w/w), and an ammonium sulfate precipitate was obtained by centrifugation.

(3) Hydrophobic Chromatography

The above ammonium sulfate precipitate was dissolved in 1.0 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). This solution was applied onto the hydrophobic chromatographic column HiLoad 26/10 Phenyl Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=53 mL) equilibrated with 1.0 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to absorb proteins to the carrier. Unabsorbed proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier were washed out with 1.0 M ammonium sulfate and 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming enzyme was eluted by linearly changing the concentration of ammonium sulfate from 1.0 M to 0 M at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction, and detected in fractions corresponding to about 0.2 M ammonium sulfate.

(4) Anion Exchange Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and dialyzed against 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) overnight. The resulting solution was applied onto the anion exchange chromatographic column HiLoad 16/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, absorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 2.25 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction, and detected in the fractions corresponding to about 400 mM NaCl.

(5) Gel Filtration Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 10k (Millipore). The resulting concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and 150 mM NaCl. The resulting solution was applied onto the gel filtration column HiLoad 16/60 Superdex 200 pg (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=120 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and 150 mM NaCl, and proteins were eluted at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/minute. This manipulation confirmed the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity at a position at which the molecular weight was estimated to be about 85 kDa.

(6) Anion Exchange Chromatography

The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and the resulting solution was applied onto the anion exchange chromatographic column Mono Q 5/5 (supplied from Pharmacia (GE Healthcare Bioscience), CV=1 mL) to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed proteins) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, absorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 1 mL/minute. The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in each fraction, and the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was detected in the fractions corresponding to about 400 mM NaCl.

(7) SDS-PAGE

The obtained fractions were subjected to SDS-PAGE, and a band derived from the active fraction was detected near 43 kDa. This band was subjected to the analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence as the candidate for the aminotransferase that forms the 2S,4R-Monatin.

Example 38 Determination of N-Terminal Amino Acid Sequence of Aminotransferase Derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444

The purified enzyme solution obtained in Example 37 was subjected to the analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence, and the N-terminal amino acid sequence of MSXIAQXILDQ (SEQ ID NO:112) was obtained. This N-terminal amino acid sequence showed the high homology to aspartate aminotransferase (ZP_(—)03935516) derived from Corynebacterium striatum ATCC6940 and aspartate aminotransferase (ZP_(—)06838515) derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes DSM20306.

Example 39 Cloning of Aminotransferase Gene Derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444

Microbial cells of Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444 were cultured in the same manner as in Example 37. The microbial cells were collected from the resulting cultured medium by centrifugation, and genomic DNA was extracted therefrom.

A DNA fragment including the aminotransferase gene was amplified by PCR with the obtained genomic DNA as the template. The primer Co-d50-r (5′-cttccttggaacaagtcgaggaagac-3′: SEQ ID NO:56) designed from the DNA sequence of downstream 50 bp of the aminotransferase gene with reference to the genomic DNA sequence of Corynebacterium ammoniagenes DSM20306, and the primer Co-800-f (5′-gctatcgcacaattccaccgcacctt-3′: SEQ ID NO:57) designed with reference to partial sequences that had the high homology between the aspartate aminotransferase (ZP_(—)03935516) derived from Corynebacterium striatum ATCC6940 and the aspartate aminotransferase (ZP_(—)06838515) derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes DSM20306 were used. PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle at 94° C. for 2 minutes 25 cycles at 98° C. for 10 seconds 55° C. for 10 seconds and 68° C. for 60 seconds  1 cycle at 68° C. for 60 seconds, and  4° C.

A nucleotide sequence of about 400 bp of the amplified DNA fragment was determined, and the primer Co-890-r (5′-acatcgttaagcaagcgaaccaccag-3′: SEQ ID NO:58) and the primer Co-1060-r (5′-gaaagacaagcgaatgtggtgctcg-3′: SEQ ID NO:59 were designed based on that nucleotide sequence. PCR was performed using LA PCR in vitro Cloning Kit (Takara). PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle at 94° C. for 2 minutes 25 cycles at 98° C. for 10 seconds 55° C. for 10 seconds and 68° C. for 60 seconds  1 cycle at 68° C. for 60 seconds, and  4° C.

As a result, the nucleotide sequence including 1134 bp of ORF (SEQ ID NOs: 60 and 61), which has the high homology to the aspartate aminotransferase gene (HMPREF0281_(—)02480) derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes DSM20306 was determined. The homology was 76% in their DNA sequences and 82% in their amino acid sequences.

This amino acid sequence was consistent with the N-terminal amino acid sequence obtained in Example 38. Thus, it has been thought that the aminotransferase gene having the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity could be acquired.

Example 40 Expression of Aminotransferase Derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444 in E. coli

(1) Construction of Expression Vector for Aminotransferase Derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444

A DNA fragment including the aminotransferase gene derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444 was amplified by PCR with the genomic DNA of Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444 as the template. The primer 1444AT-Nde-f (5′-ggaattccatATGAGCCACATCGCTCAACGCATCC-3′: SEQ ID NO:62) and a primer 1444-xho-r (5′-actccgctcgagGGACTTTTCGAAGTATTGGCGAATG-3′: SEQ ID NO:63) were used. PCR was performed using KOD-plus-ver. 2 (Toyobo) under the following condition.

 1 cycle at 94° C. for 2 minutes 25 cycles at 98° C. for 10 seconds 55° C. for 10 seconds and 68° C. for 60 seconds  1 cycle at 68° C. for 60 seconds, and  4° C.

The resulting DNA fragment was treated with the restriction enzymes NdeI and XhoI, and ligated to pET-22b (Novagen) likewise treated with NdeI and XhoI. E. coli JM109 was transformed with this ligation solution, an objective plasmid was selected from ampicillin resistant E. coli colonies, and this plasmid was designated as pET-22-1444AT-His. In this plasmid, the aminotransferase derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes AJ1444 which has the His-tag added to the C-terminus end (1444AT-His) is expressed.

(2) Purification of 1444AT-His from E. coli Strain Expressing 1444AT-His

The constructed expression plasmid pET-22-1444AT-His was introduced into E. coli BL21 (DE3), and one loopful of the transformant was inoculated to 160 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and the Sakaguchi flask was shaken at 37° C. for 16 hours. After completion of the cultivation, microbial cells were collected from about 1000 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and sonicated at 4° C. for 30 minutes. The microbial cell debris was removed from the sonicated cell suspension by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The obtained soluble fraction was applied onto a His-tag protein purification column His TALON superflow 5 mL Centrifuge (Clontech) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole. Subsequently, absorbed proteins were eluted using 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 150 mM imidazole at a flow rate of 5 mL/minute.

The obtained fractions were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30k (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), and then applied onto the anion exchange chromatographic column HiLoad 16/10 Q Sepharose HP (supplied from GE Healthcare Bioscience, CV=20 mL) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6). Subsequently, unabsorbed proteins were eluted by linearly changing the concentration of NaCl from 0 mM to 500 mM at a flow rate of 3 mL/minute.

The 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity was measured in each eluted fraction. The fractions in which the 2S,4R-Monatin-forming activity had been detected were combined, and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 30k (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as a 1444AT-His solution.

Example 41 Results of Measuring Specific Activity of AJ1444LAT for Various Keto Acids (1) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/α-KG, L-Asp/PA, L-Asp/(±)-MHOG, L-Glu/PA and L-Glu/(±)-MHOG by Colorimetric Method

The activity of AJ1444LAT for various substrates was measured. The specific activity for 10 mM keto acid was measured by colorimetric method, using 100 mM L-Asp or L-Glu as the amino donor substrate for the transamination reaction.

Activity for L-Asp/α-KG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM α-KG-2Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH and 2 U/mL of MDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. Malic dehydrogenase from porcine heart (Sigma) was used as MDH. The activity for L-Asp/α-KG is shown in the column “α-KG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Asp/PA: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM PA-Na, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, and 2 U/mL of MDH (same as above) at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. The activity for L-Asp/PA is shown in the column “PA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Asp/(±)-MHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM (±)-MHOG, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.25 mM NADH, 2 U/mL of MDH (same as above), and 10 U/mL of LDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. D-Lactate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides (Oriental Yeast) was used as LDH. LDH was added in order to remove PA in a trace amount contaminated in (±)-MHOG. The activity for L-Asp/(±)-MHOG is shown in the column “(±)-MHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Glu/PA: 100 mM L-Glu-Na, 10 mM PA, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 100 mM NH₄Cl, 0.25 mM NADH and 10 U/mL of GDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. L-Glutamic dehydrogenase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used as GDH. The activity for L-Glu/PA is shown in the column “PA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Glu/(±)-MHOG: 100 mM L-Glu-Na, 10 mM (±)-MHOG, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 100 mM NH₄Cl, 0.25 mM NADH, and 10 U/mL of GDH at 25° C. The activity was calculated from the reduction of the absorbance measured at 340 nm. The activity for L-Glu/(±)-MHOG is shown in the column “(±)-MHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

(2) Measurement of Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG, L-Asp/(±)-IHOG, L-Asp/IPA, L-Glu/4R-IHOG and L-Glu/IPA

The activity to form 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG, the activity to form 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin from (±)-IHOG, which are the objective activities, and the activity to form L-Trp as the by-product from IPA were measured individually. The transamination reaction to 10 mM keto acid was performed using 100 mM L-Asp or L-Glu as the amino donor substrate of the transamination reaction, and the amount of the formed amino acid was quantified by UPLC to calculate the specific activity.

Activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. The formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by UPLC analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/4R-IHOG is shown in the column “4R-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Asp/(±)-IHOG: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM (±)-IHOG, 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. The formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by UPLC analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/(±)-IHOG is shown in the column “(±)-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Asp/IPA: 100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM IPA, 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) (pH was adjusted to 8.0 with 1 N NaOH after preparing the reaction solution) at 25° C. The formed Trp was quantified by UPCL analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Asp/IPA is shown in the column “IPA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Glu/4R-IHOG: 100 mM L-Glu-Na, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) at 25° C. The formed 2S,4R-Monatin and 2S,4S-Monatin were quantified by UPLC analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Glu/4R-IHOG is shown in the column “4R-IHOG” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

Activity for L-Glu/IPA: 100 mM L-Glu-Na, 10 mM IPA, 50 PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) (pH was adjusted to 8.0 with 1 N NaOH after preparing the reaction solution) at 25° C. The formed Trp was quantified by UPCL analysis. A solution of 200 mM sodium citrate (pH 4.5) was used as a solution for stopping the reaction. The activity for L-Glu/IPA is shown in the column “IPA” of the aminotransferase activity in Table 17.

The formed Monatin and Trp were quantified using ACQUITY UPLC system supplied from Waters. The condition for the measurement is shown below. 0.2 mL of the reaction solution was reacted for 15 minutes, then the reaction was stopped. The reaction solution after stopping the reaction was centrifuged, and about 0.2 mL of the supernatant was subjected to UPLC analysis.

TABLE 16 UPLC Column: ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 2.1 × 50 mm Column Temp.: 40° C. Sample Temp.: 4° C. Detection: UV 210 nm Injection vol.: 5 μl Mobile Phase A: 20 mM KH2PO4 (Filt.) Mobile Phase B: ACN Flow rate: 0.5 ml/min Method: 20 mM KH2PO4_05_HSS Time (min) A (%) B (%) 0 96 4 1.9 96 4 2.0 60 40 2.2 60 40 2.3 96 4 3.0 96 4

The 2S,4R-Monatin, 2S,4S-Monatin and Trp can be quantified distinctively at 1.1 minutes, 1.5 minutes and 1.3 minutes, respectively.

(3) Results of Measuring Specific Activity of AJ1444LAT for Various Keto Acids

The results of measuring the specific activity for 10 mM keto acid when 1444-AT-His was used and L-Asp was used as the amino donor are shown in Table 17.

TABLE 17 Specific activity of AJ1444LAT for various keto acids Aminotransferase activity (U/mg) 4R-IHOG ±IHOG α-KG PA ±MHOG SR SS SR SS IPA L-Asp 4.0 1.7 2.7 2.4 0.26 0.91 1.7 0.085 L-Glu — 8.7 145 200 15 — — 0.21

Example 42 Reaction for Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin Using pET-22-1444AT-His/E. coli BL21 (DE3)

One loopful of microbial cells of pET-22-1444AT-His/E. coli BL21 (DE3) prepared in Example 40 was inoculated to 3 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a test tube, and the test tube was then shaken at 37° C. for 16 hours. After the completion of the cultivation, the microbial cells were collected from 1 mL of the cultured medium by centrifugation, and suspended in 1 mL of BugBuster Master Mix (Novagen). The resulting suspension was left stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to lyse the microbial cells. The microbial cell debris was removed by centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The reaction for the synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from 4R-IHOG was carried out using the obtained soluble fraction. To 0.1 mL of the reaction solution [100 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 10 mM 4R-IHOG (containing 4S-IHOG in a trace amount), 50 μM PLP, and 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0)], 0.05 mL of the above soluble fraction was added, and the mixture was reacted at 25° C. for one hour. After the completion of the reaction, the amount of the formed 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified to be 0.13 mM. The 2S,4R-Monatin was quantified by the UPLC analysis. The condition for the analysis is the same as that in Example 29.

Example 43 One-Pot Reaction for Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from 20 mM L-Trp (AJ3976LAT, AJ12469LAT, AJ1444LAT)

A reaction was performed under the following condition for 12 hours using purified 3976AT-His, 12469AT-His and 1444AT-His. The reaction was performed in 1 mL using a test tube. The reaction solution was appropriately sampled, the sample was diluted with TE buffer, ultrafiltrated using an Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugal filter 10 kDa (Millipore), and the resulting filtrate was analyzed. HPLC and capillary electrophoresis were used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 20 mM L-Trp, 40 mM PA-Na, 160 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, 20 mM KPB (pH 7.0), 20% Ps_aad broth, 30 U/mL of purified SpAld enzyme, 10 U/mL of commercially available OAA DCase enzyme, 2 U/mL of purified LAT enzyme (vs 10 mM 4R-IHOG), and 200 U/mL of commercially available SOD enzyme at 25° C. at 120 rpm.

The methods for preparing the enzymes subjected to the reaction are shown below.

Ps_aad broth: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 17.

Purified SpAld enzyme: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 19.

AJ3976LAT, AJ12469LAT and AJ1444LAT: they are prepared according to the methods described in Examples 28, 34 and 40.

OAA DCase: oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Pseudomonas sp. (Sigma) was used. A value described by the manufacturer was used as an enzyme amount (U).

SOD: superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used. A value described by the manufacturer was used as an enzyme amount (U).

As a result of the one-pot reactions, 12 mM, 11 mM and 13 mM 2S,4R-Monatin were formed after 4 hours using AJ3976LAT, AJ12469LAT and AJ1444LAT, respectively, and their yields from L-Trp were 58%, 53% and 64%, respectively.

Example 44 One-Pot Reaction for Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from 50 mM Trp (AJ3976 on Scale of 80 mL)

A reaction was performed for 12 hours using purified 3976AT-HIs under the following condition. The reaction was performed in a volume of 80 mL using a 250 mL volume mini-jar. The reaction solution was appropriately sampled, the sample was diluted with TE buffer, which was then ultrafiltrated using the Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugal filter 10 kDa (Millipore), and the resulting filtrate was analyzed. HPLC and capillary electrophoresis were used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 50 mM L-Trp, 50 mM PA-Na, 200 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 20 mM KPB (pH 7.6), 0.0025% GD113K, pH<7.6 (1 M H₂SO₄), 20% Ps_aad broth, 30 U/mL of purified SpAld enzyme, 10 U/mL of commercially available OAA DCase enzyme, 2 U/mL of purified LAT enzyme (vs 10 mM 4R-IHOG), and 200 U/mL of commercially available SOD enzyme at 25° C. at 350-400 rpm with air at 8 mL/minute (1/10 vvm).

The methods for preparing the enzymes subjected to the reaction are shown below.

Ps_aad broth: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 17.

Purified SpAld enzyme: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 19.

AJ3976LAT: it was prepared according to the methods described in Examples 2B.

OAA DCase: oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Pseudomonas sp. (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the enzyme amount (U).

SOD: superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the enzyme amount (U).

As a result of the one-pot reaction, 27 mM 2S,4R-Monatin was confirmed to be accumulated after 8 hours, and the yield from L-Trp which was calculated after calibrating the solution amounts was 56%.

Example 45 Expression of in Silico Selected Aminotransferase in E. coli (1) Construction of Expression Plasmid for in Silico Selected Aminotransferase

A DNA sequence obtained by conferring a NdeI recognition sequence and a XhoI recognition sequence to the 5′-end and 3′-end of the genetic sequence of the aminotransferase selected in silico was subjected to Optimum Gene Codon Optimization Analysis supplied by GenScript to obtain synthesized DNA, an expression efficiency of which had been optimized in E. coli. Types of the aminotransferase are as follows.

Putative aminotransferase derived from Deinococcus Geothermalis DSM 11300 (Dge, ABF45244) (SEQ ID NOs: 64 and 65), hypothetical protein derived from Corynebacterium glutamicum R (Cgl, BAF53276) (SEQ ID NOs: 66 and 67), Lysn, alpha-aminoadipate aminotransferase derived from Thermus thermophilus HB27 (TtHB, AAS80391) (SEQ ID NOs: 68 and 69), aminotransferase (Putative) derived from Thermotoga Maritima (Tma1, AAD36207) (SEQ ID NOs: 70 and 71), human kynurenine aminotransferase II Homologue derived from Pyrococcus Horikoshii Ot3 (PhoH, 1X0M) (SEQ ID NOs: 72 and 73), aspartate aminotransferase derived from Phormidium Lapideum (Pla, BAB86290) (SEQ ID NOs: 74 and 75), aspartate aminotransferase derived from Thermus Thermophilus (Tth, BAD69869) (SEQ ID NOs: 76 and 77), aromatic aminotransferase derived from Pyrococcus Horikoshii Ot3 (PhoA, 1DJU) (SEQ ID NOs: 78 and 79), Mj0684 derived from Methanococcus jannaschii (Mja, AAB98679) (SEQ ID NOs: 80 and 81), aspartate aminotransferase derived from Thermotoga Maritima (Tma2, AAD36764) (SEQ ID NOs: 82 and 83), aspartate aminotransferase derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sce, CAY81265) (SEQ ID NOs: 84 and 85), aspartate aminotransferase derived from Eubacterium rectale (Ere, ACR74350) (SEQ ID NOs: 86 and 87), aspartate aminotransferase derived from Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 (Bpu, ABV62783) (SEQ ID NOs: 88 and 89), putative transcriptional regulator (GntR family) derived from Bacillus cellulosilyticus DSM 2522 (Bce, ADU30616) (SEQ ID NOs: 90 and 91), aspartate aminotransferase aspC derived from Bacillus species (strain YM-2) (Bsp, AAA22250) (SEQ ID NOs: 92 and 93), aspartate aminotransferase aatB derived from Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 (SmeB, CAC47870) (SEQ ID NOs: 94 and 95), branched-chain amino-acid aminotransferase derived from Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus str. Delta H (Mth, AAB85907) (SEQ ID NOs: 96 and 97), aspartate aminotransferase derived from Lactobacillus acidophilus (Lba, AAV43507) (SEQ ID NOs: 98 and 99), aspartate aminotransferase aatA derived from Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 (SmeA, CAC46904) (SEQ ID NOs: 100 and 101), hypothetical serine aminotransferase derived from Pyrococcus horikoshi OT3 (PhoS, BAA30413) (SEQ ID NOs: 102 and 103), PLP-dependent aminotransferases derived from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis MB4 (Tte, AAM24436) (SEQ ID NOs: 104 and 105), putative transcriptional regulator (GntR family) derived from Clostridium cellulolyticum H10 (Cce, ACL75101) (SEQ ID NOs: 106 and 107), aspartate aminotransferase AspT derived from Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4 (Rer, BAH31070) (SEQ ID NOs: 108 and 109), and transcriptional regulator derived from Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 (Sde, ABD82545) (SEQ ID NOs: 110 and 111).

TABLE 18 Comparison of percent identities of amino acid sequences Amino acid Amino acid sequence identity sequence identity ID Abbreviation (%) to AJ1616LAT (%) to AJ3976LAT 1 Dge 46 23 2 Cgl 46 30 3 TtHB 20 22 4 Tmal 21 20 5 PhoH 20 22 6 Pla 18 45 7 Tth 17 47 8 PhoA 16 39 9 Mja 17 33 10 Tma2 15 27 11 Sce 20 19 12 Ere 30 26 13 Bpu 93 23 14 Bce 67 22 15 Bsp 17 45 16 SmeB 20 58 17 Mth 17 16 18 Lba 20 24 19 SmeA 21 89 20 PhoS 19 15 21 Tte 17 48 22 Cce 61 24 23 Rer 49 16 24 Sde 49 26

The synthesized DNA was treated with the restriction enzymes NdeI and XhoI, and ligated to pET-22b (Novagen) likewise treated with NdeI and XhoI. E. coli JM109 was transformed with this ligation solution, the objective plasmids were selected from ampicillin resistant colonies, and these plasmid were designated as pET-22-AT-His. In these plasmids, the aminotransferases having the His-tag added to the C terminus end (AT-His) are expressed.

(2) Purification of AT-His from E. coli Strains Expressing AT-His

Each of the constructed plasmids pET-22-AT-His was introduced into E. coli BL21 (DE3), and one loopful of the transformant was inoculated to 100 mL of Overnight Express Instant TB Medium (Novagen) containing 100 mg/L of ampicillin in a 500 mL Sakaguchi flask, and the Sakaguchi flask was shaken for 16 hours. The shaking was performed for Lba at 25° C., for Dge, Pla, Tth, Tma2, Sce, Ere, Bpu, Bce, Bsp, SmeA, PhoS, Rer and Sde at 30° C., for Cgl, TtHB, PhoH, PhoA, SmeB, Tte and Cce at 37° C., and for Tma1, Mja and Mth at 42° C. After the completion of the cultivation, microbial cells were collected from the cultured medium by the centrifugation, washed with and suspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole, and sonicated. The microbial cell debris was removed from the sonicated cell suspension by the centrifugation, and the resulting supernatant was used as a soluble fraction.

The obtained soluble fraction was applied onto the His-tag protein purification column His TALON superflow 5 mL Centrifuge (Clontech) equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole to absorb proteins to the carrier. Proteins that had not been absorbed to the carrier (unabsorbed protein) were washed out with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 10 mM imidazole. Subsequently, absorbed proteins were eluted using 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 300 mM NaCl and 150 mM imidazole at a flow rate of 5 mL/minute. The obtained fractions were combined and concentrated using Amicon Ultra-15 10k (Millipore). The concentrated solution was diluted with 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) to use as a LAT solution. If necessary, further purification was carried out by increasing the amount of the medium to be cultured and the number of His TALON columns to be linked.

Example 46 One-Pot Reaction for Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from 20 mM L-Trp

Each reaction was performed under the following condition for 15 hours using purified various AT-His. The reaction was performed in a volume of 1 mL using a test tube. After the completion of the reaction, each sample was diluted with TE buffer, ultrafiltrated using the Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugal filter 10 kDa (Millipore), and the resulting filtrate was analyzed. HPLC and capillary electrophoresis were used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 20 mM L-Trp, 40 mM PA-Na, 160 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, 20 mM KPB (pH 7.0), 20% Ps_aad broth, 30 U/mL of purified SpAld enzyme, 10 U/mL of commercially available OAA DCase enzyme, 1 mg/mL of purified LAT enzyme, and 200 U/mL of commercially available SOD enzyme at 25° C. at 120 rpm.

The methods for preparing the enzymes subjected to the reaction were shown below.

Ps_aad broth: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 17.

Purified SpAld enzyme: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 19.

Various LAT: they were prepared according to the method described in Example 45.

OAA DCase: oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Pseudomonas

Example 47 One-pot reaction for synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from 20 mM L-Trp (Tth, Bpu, SmeA and Sde)

Reactions were performed under the following condition for 15 hours using purified various AT-His. The reaction was performed in a volume of 1 mL using a test tube. After the completion of the reaction, the sample was diluted with TE buffer, ultrafiltrated using the Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugal filter 10 kDa (Millipore), and the resulting filtrate was analyzed. HPLC and capillary electrophoresis were used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 20 mM L-Trp, 40 mM PA-Na, 160 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, 20 mM KPB (pH 7.0), 20% Ps_aad broth, 30 U/mL of purified SpAld enzyme, 10 U/mL of commercially available OAA DCase enzyme, 3 mg/mL of purified LAT enzyme (12 mg/mL of Tth, 1 mg/mL of Bpu), and 200 U/mL of commercially available SOD enzyme at 25° C. at 120 rpm.

The methods for preparing the enzymes subjected to the reaction are shown below.

Ps_aad broth: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 17.

Purified SpAld enzyme: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 19.

Various LAT: they were prepared according to the method described in Example 45.

OAA DCase: oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Pseudomonas sp. (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the enzyme amount (U).

SOD: superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the enzyme amount (U).

The results of the one-pot reactions are shown in Table 20. The 2S,4R-Monatin at 18 mM, 17 mM, 11 mM and 12 mM were formed using Tth, Bpu, SmeA and Sde, respectively, and their yields from L-Trp were 92%, 87%, 54% and 61%, respectively.

TABLE 20 Yields of 2S,4R-Monatin in one-pot reaction using 20 mM Trp as substrate Abbreviation Yield from Trp (%) Tth 92 Bpu 87 SmeA 54 Sde 61

Example 48 One-Pot Reaction for Synthesis of 2S,4R-Monatin from 100 mM L-Trp (Tth, Bpu, SmeA and Sde)

Reactions were performed under the following condition for 18 hours using purified various AT-His, Tth, Bpu, SmeA and Sde. The reaction was performed in a volume of 1 mL using a test tube. After the completion of the reaction, the sample was diluted with TE buffer, ultrafiltrated using the Amicon Ultra-0.5 mL centrifugal filter 10 kDa (Millipore), and the resulting filtrate was analyzed. HPLC and capillary electrophoresis were used for the analysis.

Reaction condition: 100 mM L-Trp, 50 mM PA-Na, 300 mM L-Asp-Na-laq, 1 mM MgCl₂, 50 μM PLP, 100 mM Tris-HCl, 20 mM KPB (pH 7.0), 40% Ps_aad broth, 60 U/mL of purified SpAld enzyme, 10 U/mL of commercially available OAA DCase enzyme, 3 mg/mL of purified LAT enzyme (12 mg/mL for Tth), and 200 U/mL of commercially available SOD enzyme at 25° C. at 150 rpm.

The methods for preparing the enzymes subjected to the reaction are shown below.

Ps_aad broth: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 17.

Purified SpAld enzyme: it was prepared according to the method described in Example 19.

Various LAT: they were prepared according to the method described in Example 45.

OAA DCase: oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Pseudomonas sp. (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the enzyme amount (U).

SOD: superoxide dismutase from bovine liver (Sigma) was used. The value described by the manufacturer was used as the enzyme amount (U).

The results of the one-pot reactions are shown in Table 21. The 2S,4R-Monatin at 72 mM, 46 mM, 6.4 mM and 20 mM were formed using Tth, Bpu, SmeA and Sde, respectively, and their yields from L-Trp were 72%, 46%, 6.4% and 20%, respectively.

TABLE 21 Yields of 2S,4R-MOnatin in one pot reaction using 100 mM Trp as substrate Yield from Abbreviation Trp (%) Tth 72 Bpu 46 SmeA 6.4 Sde 20

(Information on Microorganisms)

The microorganisms specified by deposit numbers which are described herein can be available from certain deposit authority. The microorganisms described in Table 22 have been deposited to National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, International Patent Organism Depositary (1-1-1 Central No. 6 Higashi, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan) on the following dates, and the following deposit numbers have been conferred to them. As described in Table 22, these microorganisms are currently classified in the following ways as a result of reidentification, although different names were previously conferred to them.

TABLE 22 Current names for microorganims (Previous names for Deposit microorganims) number Deposited date Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 FERM-BP 11429 Oct. 4, (Bacillus sp. AJ1616) 2011 Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ3447 FERM-BP 11422 Sep. 30, (Xanthomonas oryzae AJ3447) 2011 Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ11634 FERM-BP 11423 Sep. 30, (Xanthomonas albilineans 2011 AJ11634) Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense FERM-BP 11432 Oct. 4, AJ3735 2011 (Pseudomonas betainovorans AJ3735) Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ1591 FERM-BP 11419 Sep. 27, (Pseudomonas putrefaciens 2011 AJ1591) Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ3839 FERM-BP 11416 Sep. 15, (Pseudomonas peptidolytica 2011 AJ3839) Brevundimonas diminuta AJ3958 FERM-BP 11425 Sep. 30, (Pseudomonas hydrogenovora 2011 AJ3958) Rhizobium sp. AJ12469 FERM-BP 11430 Oct. 4, (Alcaligenes faecalis AJ12469) 2011 Carnimonas sp. AJ3230 FERM-BP 11431 Oct. 4, (Achromobacter brunificans 2011 AJ3230) Pseudomonas sp. AJ1594 FERM-BP 11424 Sep. 30, (Pseudomonas ovalis AJ1594) 2011

In addition, the microorganisms described in Table 23 are currently classified in the following ways as a result of reidentification, although different names were previously conferred to them. The bacterial strain, Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ13127 is identical to the known bacterial strain specified by the deposit number FERM-BP 5568.

TABLE 23 Current names for microorganims (Previous names for microorganims) Rhizobium radiobacter LAT1 (Rhizobium sp. LAT1) Rhizobium radiobacter AJ11568 (Pseudomonas umorosa AJ11568) Dietzia maris AJ2788 (Pseudomonas tabaci AJ2788) Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ13127 (Stenotrophomonas sp. AJ13127) Arthrobacter sp. IAM1390 (Arthrobacter ureafaciens IAM1390) Burkholderia sp. AJ3084 (Pseudomonas multivorans AJ3084) Rhizobium radiobacter AJ2557 (Alcaligenes metalcaligenes AJ2557) Pseudomonas sp. LMG2833 (Achromobacter butyri LMG2833)

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the methods of the present invention are useful for producing the Monatin which can be used as the sweetener.

Sequence Listing Free Text

SEQ ID NO:1: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis SEQ ID NO:2: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Bacillus altitudinis SEQ ID NO:3: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene (nucleotide numbers 231-1538) and the upstream and downstream regions thereof which are derived from Bacillus altitudinis SEQ ID NO:4: Amino acid sequence of a fragment of aminotransferase derived from Bacillus altitudinis SEQ ID NO:5: Amino acid sequence of a fragment of aminotransferase derived from Bacillus altitudinis SEQ ID NO:6: Forward primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis (Bp-u200-f) SEQ ID NO:7: Reverse primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis (Bp-d200-r) SEQ ID NO:8: Forward primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis (1616AT-Nde-f) SEQ ID NO:9: Reverse primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis (1616-xho-r) SEQ ID NO:10: Forward primer for converting DNA sequence recognized by NdeI, which is found on aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis (1616-delNde-f) SEQ ID NO:11: Reverse primer for converting DNA sequence recognized by NdeI, which is found on aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus altitudinis (1616-delNde-r) SEQ ID NO:12: Forward primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing SpAld gene (SpAld-f-NdeI) SEQ ID NO:13: Reverse primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing SpAld gene (SpAld-r-HindIII) SEQ ID NO:14: Forward primer for converting rare codon 6L in SpAld gene (6L-f) SEQ ID NO:15: Reverse primer for converting rare codon 6L in SpAld gene (6L-r) SEQ ID NO:16: Forward primer for converting rare codon 13L in SpAld gene (13L-f) SEQ ID NO:17: Reverse primer for converting rare codon 13L in SpAld gene (13L-r) SEQ ID NO:18: Forward primer for converting rare codon 18P in SpAld gene (18P-f) SEQ ID NO:19: Reverse primer for converting rare codon 18P in SpAld gene (18P-r) SEQ ID NO:20: Forward primer for converting rare codon 38P in SpAld gene (38P-f) SEQ ID NO:21: Reverse primer for converting rare codon 38P in SpAld gene (38P-r) SEQ ID NO:22: Forward primer for converting rare codon 50P in SpAld gene (50P-f) SEQ ID NO:23: Reverse primer for converting rare codon 50P in SpAld gene (50P-r) SEQ ID NO:24: Forward primer for converting rare codons 77P, 81P and 84R in SpAld gene (77P-81P-84R-f) SEQ ID NO:25: Reverse primer for converting rare codons 77P, 81P and B4R in SpAld gene (77P-81P-84R-r) SEQ ID NO:26: Forward primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant K39R derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (K39R_FW) SEQ ID NO:27: Reverse primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant K39R derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (K39R_RV) SEQ ID NO:28: Forward primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant S258G derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (S258G_FW) SEQ ID NO:29: Reverse primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant S258G derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (S258G_RV) SEQ ID NO:30: Forward primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant T288G derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (T288G_FW) SEQ ID NO:31: Reverse primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant T288G derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (T288G_RV) SEQ ID NO:32: Forward primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant I289A derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (I289A_FW) SEQ ID NO:33: Reverse primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant I289A derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (I289A_RV) SEQ ID NO:34: Forward primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant Q287E/T288G derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (Q287E/T288G_FW) SEQ ID NO:35: Reverse primer for preparing the aminotransferase mutant Q287E/T288G derived from Bacillus altitudinis AJ1616 (Q287E/T288G_RV) SEQ ID NO:36: Primer for preparing a DNA fragment for destroying aspC gene (aspC-L1) SEQ ID NO:37: Primer for preparing a DNA fragment for destroying aspC gene (aspC-R1) SEQ ID NO:38: Primer for confirming the insertion of attL-cat-attR in the region of aspC gene (aspC-up) SEQ ID NO:39: Primer for confirming the insertion of attL-cat-attR in the region of aspC gene (attL-1) SEQ ID NO:40: Primer for confirming the insertion of attL-cat-attR in the region of aspC gene (aspC-down) SEQ ID NO:41: Primer for confirming the insertion of attL-cat-attR in the region of aspC gene (attR-1) SEQ ID NO:42: Nucleotide sequence of oxaloacetate decarboxylase gene derived from Pseudomonas putida SEQ ID NO:43: Amino acid sequence of oxaloacetate decarboxylase derived from Pseudomonas putida SEQ ID NO:44: Amino acid sequence of a fragment of aminotransferase derived from Rhizobium radiobacter SEQ ID NO:45: Forward primer which is designed based on the genomic DNA sequence from Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58 (Ag-u100-f) SEQ ID NO:46: Reverse primer which is designed based on the genomic DNA sequence from Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58 (Ag-d100-r) SEQ ID NO:47: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium radiobacter SEQ ID NO:48: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Rhizobium radiobacter SEQ ID NO:49: Forward primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium radiobacter (3976AT-Nde-f) SEQ ID NO:50: Reverse primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium radiobacter (3976-xho-r) SEQ ID NO:51: Amino acid sequence of a fragment of aminotransferase derived from Rhizobium sp. SEQ ID NO:52: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium sp. SEQ ID NO:53: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Rhizobium sp. SEQ ID NO:54: Forward primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium sp. (12469AT-Nde-f) SEQ ID NO:55: Reverse primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Rhizobium sp. (12469-xho-r) SEQ ID NO:56: Forward primer which is designed based on the genomic DNA sequence from Corynebacterium ammonia genes DSM20306 (Co-d50-r) SEQ ID NO:57: Reverse primer which is designed based on a homologus region between the genomic DNA sequences corresponding to the aspartate aminotransferases from Corynebacterium striatum ATCC6940 (ZP_(—)03935516) and from Corynebacterium ammonia genes DSM20306 SEQ ID NO:58: Forward primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes (Co-890-r) SEQ ID NO:59: Reverse primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes (Co-1060-r) SEQ ID NO:60: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes SEQ ID NO:61: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes SEQ ID NO:62: Forward primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes (1444AT-Nde-f) SEQ ID NO:63: Reverse primer for amplifying DNA fragment containing aminotransferase gene derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes (1444-xho-r) SEQ ID NO:64: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Deinococcus geothermalis SEQ ID NO:65: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Deinococcus geothermalis SEQ ID NO:66: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Corynebacterium glutamicum SEQ ID NO:67: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Corynebacterium glutamicum SEQ ID NO:68: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Thermus thermophilus SEQ ID NO:69: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Thermus thermophilus SEQ ID NO:70: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Thermotoga maritima SEQ ID NO:71: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Thermotoga maritima SEQ ID NO:72: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Pyrococcus horikoshii SEQ ID NO:73: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Pyrococcus horikoshii SEQ ID NO:74: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Phormidium lapideum SEQ ID NO:75: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Phormidium lapideum SEQ ID NO:76: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Thermos thermophilus SEQ ID NO:77: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Thermos thermophilus SEQ ID NO:78: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Pyrococcus horikoshii SEQ ID NO:79: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Pyrococcus horikoshii SEQ ID NO:80: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Methanococcus jannaschii SEQ ID NO:81: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Methanococcus jannaschii SEQ ID NO:82: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Thermotoga maritima SEQ ID NO:83: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Thermotoga maritima SEQ ID NO:84: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEQ ID NO:85: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae SEQ ID NO:86: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Eubacterium rectale SEQ ID NO:87: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Eubacterium rectale SEQ ID NO:88: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus pumilus SEQ ID NO:89: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Bacillus pumilus SEQ ID NO:90: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus cellulosilyticus SEQ ID NO:91: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Bacillus cellulosilyticus SEQ ID NO:92: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Bacillus sp. SEQ ID NO:93: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Bacillus sp. SEQ ID NO:94: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Sinorhizobium meliloti SEQ ID NO:95: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Sinorhizobium meliloti SEQ ID NO:96: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus SEQ ID NO:97: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus SEQ ID NO:98: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Lactobacillus acidophilus SEQ ID NO:99: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Lactobacillus acidophilus SEQ ID NO:100: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Sinorhizobium meliloti SEQ ID NO:101: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Sinorhizobium meliloti SEQ ID NO:102: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Pyrococcus horikoshii SEQ ID NO:103: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Pyrococcus horikoshii SEQ ID NO:104: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis SEQ ID NO:105: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis SEQ ID NO:106: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Clostridium cellulolyticum SEQ ID NO:107: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Clostridium cellulolyticum SEQ ID NO:108: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Rhodococcus erythropolis SEQ ID NO:109: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Rhodococcus erythropolis SEQ ID NO:110: Nucleotide sequence of aminotransferase gene derived from Saccharophagus degradans SEQ ID NO:111: Amino acid sequence of aminotransferase derived from Saccharophagus degradans SEQ ID NO:112: Amino acid sequence of a fragment of aminotransferase derived from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes 

1.-30. (canceled)
 31. A method for producing 2R,4R-Monatin or a salt thereof, comprising the following (I) and (II): (I) contacting 4R form of 4-(indole-3-yl-methyl)-4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutaric acid (4R-IHOG) with an L-amino acid aminotransferase in the presence of an L-amino acid to form the 2S,4R-Monatin, wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase consists of an amino acid sequence having 95% or more identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2; and (II) isomerizing the 2S,4R-Monatin to form the 2R,4R-Monatin.
 32. The production method of claim 31, wherein a keto acid formed from the L-amino acid due to the action of the L-amino acid aminotransferase is contacted with a decarboxylase to degrade said keto acid.
 33. The production method of claim 31, wherein the L-amino acid is L-aspartate.
 34. The production method of claim 33, wherein oxaloacetate formed from the L-aspartate due to the action of the L-amino acid aminotransferase is contacted with an oxaloacetate decarboxylase to degrade said oxaloacetate to irreversibly form pyruvate.
 35. The production method of claim 31, wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase is derived from a microorganism belonging to the genus Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Candida, Corynebacterium, Lodderomyces, Micrococcus, Microbacterium, Nocardia, Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, Stenotrophomonas, Dietzia, Ochrobactrum, Brevundimonas, Burkholderia, Carnimonas, Yarrowia, Clostridium, Deinococcus, Eubacterium, Lactobacillus, Methanothermobacter, Phormidium, Pyrococcus, Rhodococcus, Saccharomyces, Saccharophagus, Sinorhizobium, Thermoanaerobacter, Thermotoga or Thermus.
 36. The production method of claim 35, wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase is derived from Arthrobacter sp., Bacillus altitudinis, Bacillus cellulosilyticus, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus sp., Candida norvegensis, Candida inconspicua, Corynebacterium ammoniagenes, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Lodderomyces elongisporus, Micrococcus luteus, Microbacterium sp., Nocardia globerula, Pseudomonas chlororaphis, Pseudomonas citronocllolis, Pseudomonas fragi, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas synxantha, Pseudomonas taetrolens, Pseudomonas sp., Rhizobium radiobacter, Rhizobium sp., Stenotrophomonas sp., Dietzia maxis, Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense, Brevundimonas diminuta, Burkholderia sp., Carnimonas sp., Yarrowia lypolytica, Clostridium cellulolyticum, Deinococcus geothermalis, Eubacterium rectale, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus, Phormidium lapideum, Pyrococcus horikoshii, Rhodococcus erythropolis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharophagus degradans, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, Thermotoga maritima, or Thermus thermophilus.
 37. The production method of claim 31, wherein the L-amino acid aminotransferase comprises one or more mutations of amino acid residues selected from the group consisting of the amino acid residues at position 39, position 109, position 128, position 150, position 258, position 287, position 288, position 289, position 303, position 358 and position 431 in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
 38. The production method of claim 37, wherein the one or more mutations of amino acid residues are selected from the group consisting of: i) substitution of the lysine at position 39 with an arginine; ii) substitution of the serine at position 258 with a glycine; iii) substitution of the glutamine at position 287 with a glutamic acid; iv) substitution of the threonine at position 288 with a glycine; v) substitution of the isoleucine at position 289 with an alanine; vi) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 109 with a glycine; vii) substitution of the histidine at position 150 with a tyrosine; viii) substitution of the phenylalanine at position 303 with a leucine; ix) substitution of the aspartic acid at position 358 with a tyrosine; x) substitution of the serine at position 431 with a threonine; and xi) substitution of the glutamic acid at position 128 with a glycine.
 39. The production method of claim 31, wherein the 4R-IHOG is contacted with the L-amino acid aminotransferase using a transformant that expresses the L-amino acid aminotransferase.
 40. The production method of claim 31, further comprising condensing indole-3-pyruvate and pyruvate to form the 4R-IHOG.
 41. The production method of claim 40, wherein the indole-3-pyruvate and the pyruvate are condensed by contacting the indole-3-pyruvate and the pyruvate with an aldolase.
 42. The production method of claim 40, wherein at least part of the pyruvate used in the formation of the 4R-IHOG is from pyruvate formed from the oxaloacetate due to the action of an oxaloacetate decarboxylase.
 43. The production method of claim 40, further comprising deaminating a tryptophan to form the indole-3-pyruvate.
 44. The production method of claim 43, wherein the tryptophan is deaminated by contacting the tryptophan with a deamination enzyme.
 45. The production method of claim 41, wherein the production of 2S,4R-Monatin or the salt thereof is carried out in one reactor.
 46. The production method of claim 40, wherein the production of the 2S,4R-Monatin or the salt thereof is carried out in one reactor.
 47. The production method of claim 41, wherein the 2S,4R-Monatin is isomerized in the presence of an aromatic aldehyde.
 48. The production method of claim 41, wherein the salt is a sodium salt or a potassium salt. 